Photo of Emilee Petersmark of the Crane Wives by Laura Jerele
Who knew that the Crane Wives would draw such a vibrant, fun, diverse, and youthful packed house on a Tuesday night to St. Louis? Not me, and it was such an amazing surprise! This is my first time covering this band and I was not sure what to expect with the crowd, but St. Louis showed up in an exuberant way, dressed up and ready to sing their hearts out on a Tuesday night. This band has such killer harmonies (Kate Pillsbury is beyond impressive with hers!) that if you listened to the music, you would swear there is no way they could pull that off live. But they do. Their voices are not just beautiful to listen to, they are a very fun band to see perform. Their stage felt a bit like a storybook, complete with dramatic entrance from a seemingly dark figure that purposefully brought glowing lanterns of ethereal light, making it feel like an indie rock fairytale.
Now, as amazing as this band is with their harmonies and catchy songs, the audience was like the fifth member of the band, singing along to practically every word. And smiles—this band loves to smile! Ok, so bassist Ben Zito could pull off swoony and moody, but he was still having a killer time while holding the groove. I know that might not sound very rock ‘n’ roll, but dammit it is so cool to see bandmates having that much fun performing, playing well and having a great time.
Their guitarist (and vocalist) Emilee Petersmark is a true force, not afraid to play the hell out of her guitar, sing her heart out and dress, to the nines while doing it. She quite talented and impressive and I hope more people noticed just how great of a guitarist she is. Check out this setlist from last night:
Scars
River Rushing
Allies or Enemies
Bitter Medicine
Higher Ground
Unraveling
Queen of Nothing
Metaphor
Say It
The Moon Will Sing
Black Hole Fantasy
Never Love an Anchor
Arcturus Beaming
Curses
Sleeping Giants
Encore:
The Hand That Feeds
Tongues & Teeth
One of the best parts of the evening was how it began with the entrance and introduction of opening artist Arny Margret. The Crane Wives’ drummer Dan Rickabus personally walked her out onto the stage, provided an introduction of her to the crowd and asked the audience to give her as much attention, energy, and excitement as they would to the Crane Wives themselves. It was very heartfelt and endearing, and the audience took heed (when they were done screaming for Rickabus). You could seriously hear a pin drop in The Pageant as Arny played her acoustic songs. She even performed a song in her Icelandic native tongue, and people were still enthralled. I love it when audiences give that much respect to an opening artist and this one certainly deserves it. Her songs are beautiful, well played, well thought out, and, for a tiny person on such a big stage, she gave a lot of presence and a helluva lot of heart. | Laura Jerele
