MARIS BROUGHT THE HEAT TO HER DEBUT SUMMERFEST PERFORMANCE

June 30, 2026

4–6 minutes

Rising pop star MARIS performed for the first time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at The Big Gig: Summerfest. Her sparkly and borderline outrageous makeup took the T-Mobile stage by storm on Saturday night. The Los Angeles-based, Montana-born singer was one of the most captivating performers of the entire weekend, along with her tight-knit fanbase holding down the barricade; her crowd was strong. At a festival where a majority of attendees wandered the grounds, MARIS caught their ears with her crowd growing larger by each song.

Crave first covered MARIS’ release of “SUPER F★CKING MEGA ST★R” last October; immediately upon discovering her for the first time, listening to her, I knew she was meant for the limelight.

Ahead of her performance at Summerfest, Crave got the chance to chat with MARIS about all things touring, fashion and fans.

CRAVE: One thing you have to bring on tour?

MARIS: Every single pair of underwear. What if I sh*t my pants 10 times? That’s so true, right?

CRAVE: Acoustic or electric?

MARIS: Electric. All the way. I do have an acoustic set, and I have a song called “Goodbye Forever” that I hop off the mic for, and I just play guitar and sing to the room. And that feels really lovely, but for the most part, I’m an electric girl.

CRAVE: Since we have this awesome makeup on you today, if you could only wear one makeup product forever, like, mascara or blush, what would you wear?

MARIS: I would say eyebrow gel. I don’t feel like myself, and my eyebrows aren’t, like, looking at God. So, I think probably eyebrows. Like, you can have nothing, but if you have a good eyebrow, you’re gonna be okay.

CRAVE: Your whole fan base gives female empowerment. What have you learned from your fans over the years?

MARIS: I’ve learned crafts. They make so many things, Emmie brought this to me today, [her necklace]. The bracelet that I was wearing, it broke, unfortunately, in the car, but Katana made that. They make shirts, like, Harper is in the audience.  She has a photo of my face on her butt that she screen-printed onto cloth and then sewed under her pants. So, I would say the craftiness and the innovativeness in how they approach everything that they love and are excited about really inspires me.

CRAVE: If you could only have 5 songs on a setlist, what songs would make the cut?

MARIS: Oh my god. I would have to do “Give Me A Sign,” “Mary and I,” “Body is on Fire,” “Mosh Pit” and we do a cover of “What Makes You Beautiful” that I love a lot. So I keep that.  

CRAVE: Take this time to manifest. What is your next big dream goal? Speak it into existence!

MARIS: Ooh, I want to play Coachella, I want to headline Summerfest, and I want to sell out my tour of North America that’s coming in the fall.

CRAVE: Anything you want to shout out? Any new releases?

MARIS: I have an EP coming out on September 18th, called Mosh Pit.  Then we’re going on tour October 1st with that EP and the whole tour is about coming together and being human people together; being sweaty and making friends, dancing, and being yourself in a space where everybody loves you.

Recently, MARIS posted a TikTok ranting, sarcastically, about how AI entering the music industry will force fans into real-life concerts. The audio acted as her introduction to the set: “Oh no! Guess you’ll have to come see us live…”

When it came time for MARIS to take the stage, it was like the stars were aligning; literally. Her early evening set lends itself to the perfect sunset vision. Coming out swinging with “My Body is on Fire,” toting a sparkling fringe jacket, reminded me of Elton John, while her glimmering star makeup was reminiscent of David Bowie; she’s the modern-day pop icon.

MARIS performs like a seasoned pro, mixing dance moves with her vocal power that demands attention. Her original music, as well as a cheeky cover of “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction, made her set completely unforgettable.

As Summerfest days are always particularly busy, I was planning to leave before MARIS’ performance was finished, but I couldn’t help myself. Her natural-born stage quality kept me hooked non-stop; I’m so glad I stayed. A particular highlight was “IT’S HARD (to be a Man)” which really showed off her personality and confidence. The crowd was all singing along and dancing.

“Who k*lled the president? What’s a communist? Am I gay? How do you get yourself up and out of bed every day?”

The show included multiple bits, stripteases, dance breaks and more; it kept the whole audience entertained. Speaking of, that audience just kept growing throughout the entire night. With a full hour-long set, her set went from full-throttle energy to slowing down for the performance of “Chameleon.” At this point, everyone in the crowd raised their phone flashlights in the air as the pink and yellow skies hit the peak of sunset. It was genuinely such a gorgeous and unforgettable moment. All while this very emotional and deeply personal song played, fans in the front row were headbanging in sync; they’re so unserious. However, that is certainly part of what makes the MARIS fanbase so unique, cult-like, and fun to be around.

The entire pit was basically a dance floor the whole night; fans doing cartwheels and dropping into the splits on the concrete was just the half of it; they opened up a whole dance circle. The fans were also super engaging and often invited others to join them in dance. Each mega fan was like an extension of MARIS, most of them also copied her signature star-print makeup as part of their festival look.