📍3Ten at ACL Live — Sept. 17, 2025
Written by Krysta Ayers

Give Me a Tour opens up with a Star Wars-like voiceover that introduces a “lesbian alien” and “bisexual astronaut” who are in a galaxy far, far away. Caroline Kingsbury and MARIS are sharing the stage and tour as headliners—the first time for both of them—and the format is refreshing and vibrant and cohesive: both have similar sounds to make the back-and-forths like a seesaw, instead of like oil and water trying to share a bottle.

The motif: space. The unifying power: queerness. (But also: vulnerable lyrics, unapologetic movement, and the vocal power of your fave pop princesses.)

When Kingsbury started off her portion of the show, I wrote “Chappelle Roan” in my notes app. Her voice, her style, and her sense of self seemed modeled and expanded on from Chappelle’s influence. She is also as colorful (hair, clothes) and demanding on stage as Chappelle. Later, when Kingsbury and MARIS did a quick Q&A during a break, we learn that Chappelle is one of Kingsbury’s queer icons. Fitting.

When MARIS comes on and belts out her notes, I open my notes app to write “voice like Paramore,” in reference to Hayley Williams. She may be short, but the vocals pack a punch, especially when she hits high notes at the end of her tracks. Tonally, MARIS sounds very similar to Williams. When she answered the queer icon question later in the show, she said Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.

Kingsbury and MARIS take turns with the stage for the most part, coming together in the middle to play an epic acoustic cover of “Pink Pony Club” and at the end to play their joint track, “Give Me a Sign” (which they used to open the show as well). And because they’re sharing the stage, they also share a guitarist (Andrew) and drummer (Tiger), the only other people on stage with them.

Kingsbury played new tracks “Shock Treatment,” “Chocolate,” and “Pain and Pleasure.” She intros one song by saying, “This song is for my ex and it’s called, ‘I Really Don’t Care,’ but I really do care!” It’s an ‘80s-esque synth and drums combo that could easily be confused for a Robyn song. Her voice is earthy, weighty, and loud—it’s powerful even over drum fills and guitar rhythms.

Both artists excel at using their emotions to connect authentically with their fans. In fact, someone in the crowd does cry during MARIS’s “Chameleon,” about trying to be the perfect version, a fake mold, of whatever the other person wants. She (a Virgo) and Kingsbury (a Leo), are the perfect “space cadet” weirdos to grace the stage and sing about womanhood, queerness, and finding love. Songs like Kingsbury’s, “Kissing Someone Else,” and MARIS’s “It’s Hard (to be a man)” are anthems for the spectrum of feelings and levels of confidence we can feel at any moment. Their music is made for the late-night, close-friends-only karaoke sessions or drives.

The individual artists were dynamic separately, and a force together. The vocal chops from each were impressive, especially when extending equal energy into dancing and marching across the stage. It was a sapphic tour of immense fun, genuine love, and acceptance—and, as is the case with many shows that come through first in a small venue, they will soon return to a bigger one, which will sell out immediately, and everyone will rue the day they didn’t see them intimately at 3Ten.