Community, queer joy, self-love and passion. Those are the words that encapsulate what it means to attend superstar MARIS’ headline tour, Mosh Pit The Tour. Montana-born/LA transplant MARIS brought her first headline tour to Chicago at Schubas Tavern, a space that lent its intimate size to the tight-knit energy MARIS loves to create.
Graphic (L) by Amber Dellacamera and photos by Emmie Sweeting
I was lucky enough to join the VIP crowd with thirty other MARIS fans (Superstars), where we took polaroids with the artist and sat in a circle asking her both silly and serious questions about her craft. MARIS used this time intentionally to let us introduce ourselves all by name so that we had a friendly face in the audience during the show.
VIP Superstars also got the first chance to sign up for one of my personal favorite MARIS traditions: karaoke. MARIS first started this on her last tour with Caroline Kingsbury (Give Me A Tour), where rather than having an opening act warm up the crowd, the fans do so with their favorite songs. I couldn’t pass up being on stage at my favorite venue in Chicago, so I sang Olivia Rodrigo’s “Expectations” with my two friends Riley and Alyssa. Others usually pull songs ranging from Green Day to Chappell Roan, which always gets the crowd’s adrenaline pumping.
MARIS didn’t let the energy dissipate from the end of karaoke to the start of her set; she kept the wait at ten minutes to the crowd’s pleasure. MARIS’s bandmates, Tiger and Andrew, start the instrumental to EP and Tour namesake, “Mosh Pit,” and then MARIS takes the stage dressed as Jem from Jem and The Holograms in a hot pink, spiky wig and her usual tour hoodie and fishnets – and we can’t forget her iconic sparkly star makeup donning her eye. Although the wig didn’t last long with MARIS’s animated dance moves, it was a fun homage to her cartoon lookalike and to Halloweekend.
As MARIS starts the show with all her energy, she takes a moment to pause and inform the audience of the meaning behind Mosh Pit, the tour and the lifestyle. She reminds everyone that this is a safe space and “this is a space where I don’t just want you to show up exactly as who you are, but I need you to.” She continues to remind us that mosh pits are a place of respect and specifically calls on the men in the audience to step in if they are witnessing something. This was a perfect segue into her song, “IT’S HARD (to be a man),” a song about her time as a sex worker and the intolerable things men have said.
As an avid Chicago concertgoer, Chicago is always loud, but this crowd was unmatched. MARIS told us this was quickly becoming one of her favorite stops on the tour. I’ve also been fortunate enough to attend other shows of MARIS, so I can say she was truthful and not saying this just to make us feel good! Chicago kept getting more and more hyped as MARIS continued to sing even her most gut-wrenching songs, with vocals so strong all you could do was cry.
A particular moment that the crowd loved was a staple in MARIS’ set: the magical self-love portion *sparkle emoji.* MARIS takes a few minutes after a particularly emotional section in her set to touch base with everyone. In a Simon Says style, she makes us go, “MM MM MMMM” and hug ourselves – this part she says isn’t necessary, but she thinks it’s funny; always the comedian. Then she gets serious again and tells us to close our eyes and imagine a version of ourselves, whether past, present, or future, that needs love. She then leads us in screaming, “I love you just the way you f*cking are… B!TCH!”, earning “awws” and giggles. She then instructs us to turn to a stranger and introduce ourselves, explaining that we live in a digital society scared of intimacy and community and that we need to break out of this! We then tell said stranger the same thing we told ourselves: we love them just the way they f*cking are… b!tch.
Afterwards, the crowd is back to being emotionally regulated and perhaps with a new friend in the audience, just in time to hear some more hits from MARIS. Songs like “Give Me A Sign” and “SUPER F★CKING MEGA ST★R” make the setlist, the latter even presenting a fan with a sparkly early 2000s slap bracelet as an award for being “King of The Pit.” MARIS explains that this award is given to whoever starts the mosh pit, but also to someone who makes people comfortable enough to be weird. The crowd chants “king of the pit, king of the pit” as the next song starts.
MARIS truly loves the community she has built, and she shows it in everything she does; the crowd involvement is the easiest way to track that. From having fans open for her, to making a tunnel of fans to run through, to jumping in the crowd after her emotional cover of “Mr. Brightside” – MARIS loves to show how much she appreciates every single one of her Superstars. She even takes a song off mic towards the end of her set, going back into the audience and letting everyone light her up with flashlights as she sings with just her and her guitar, “Goodbye Forever”.
Unfortunately, all shows must come to an end, but MARIS makes it count. Singing new songs off her recent EP, “That’s My Girl” and “Nothing To Do (nananananana),” she ends the night with a bang and don’t forget the strip tease! Literally ripping her tank top down the middle during the climax of the song had everyone cheering, especially when she handed it to a lucky fan in the front row. The audience immediately erupts into an encore chant, begging for one more song. MARIS can’t even contain her excitement as she immediately calls back her bandmates for one more song, an oldie – “Julia Roberts.” She explains that built-in encores are kind of lame to her, so this one was truly an encore for the sold-out Chicago show.
Afterwards, MARIS meets fans at the merch booth, smiling for pictures and signing their brand new vinyl (MARIS’s first pressing). Anyone looking from the outside can see the energy and light MARIS’ fans bring her. Despite having to be up at 4 am the next morning to drive to her next show in Minneapolis, MARIS never lets it stop her from giving them her all – truly embodying the Mosh Pit lifestyle.
The tour is almost done; grab tickets if you want to mosh! If you missed your city, don’t worry – she’ll be back!
Keep up with MARIS:
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