Two Queer Popstars, One Tour: MARIS and Caroline Kingsbury’s “Give Me A Tour”

September 21, 2025 - Tampa, FL

This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to see the “Give Me a Tour” Tampa stop, a joint tour between Caroline Kingsbury and MARIS. This tour intrigued me however, as it was advertised as a show with no openers, just two headliners where everyone is a star. 

Contrasting against the dark, punk aesthetic of the venue was a sparkly blue moon, pink and purple lighting, and a girl doing karaoke to “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield. Something that I thought was absolutely delightful was the pre-show karaoke, where anyone could sign up to perform whatever they wanted. In Tampa, this meant anyone from an older adult man in rainbow suspenders confidently taking on a song I wasn’t familiar with to the frontwoman of a local band doing an impressive performance of “Red Wine Supernova. Not only were these DIY openers impressive, but they seemed to prime the crowd for the upcoming show. Not to mention both headliners even made an appearance to cheer on their fans, which was just darling. 

So under the light of the blue moon, Caroline Kingsbury and MARIS took to the stage for their collaboration “give me a sign”.

Kingsbury immediately caught the eye with neon yellow hair and an even more neon 80s aerobic outfit. MARIS was in a bedazzled spacesuit and pink hair tied into space buns. They looked like friends who had dressed for two completely different occasions, yet, they adored each other so clearly that it didn’t even matter. 

“It’s good to be back home,” Kingsbury as she began the first of her solo segments on the setlist and pointed out her aunt in the audience.

Kingsbury is a Florida native, something I believe is important to mention. Both MARIS and Kingsbury are openly queer, so it may seem so obvious that this show would be queer. Right now, however, is a fraught time to be openly queer in Florida. So, seeing two artists who held up trans and lesbian flags created this unapologetically cheerful safe space for attendees.

Though Kingsbury’s stage presence was more introverted, she really commanded the stage and made sure to bring the audience into her sets. Two people from the crowd were even brought on stage to dance with her during her song, “Alabama”. Unlike a traditional tour with two acts, Kingsbury and MARIS took turns tag-teaming the setlist. When they swapped out, they would do a little skit about space TSA or swapping suitcases. This lent itself to a really vibrant and upbeat energy, with there being no space for the energy to dip. 

MARIS, performing “Goodbye Forever”

Her wrists laden with friendship bracelets given during the pre-show M&G and hair taken down from her space buns, MARIS took to the stage.

Her energy was noticeably bouncy, almost electric as she bounced around the stage. She took videos on her fans phones. She created a “mush pit”, which she called the nicer version of a mosh pit. She volunteered stories about her song, even recounting doing sex work for her song “It’s Hard To Be a Man”. Watching her was just delightful, it was so clear that she loved this show and her music.

Now, I must admit, I was not familiar with either MARIS or Kingsbury prior to receiving the opportunity to attend this tour date. I’d only seen the tour poster and listened to a playlist of the setlist on Spotify. So, walking in, I was nervous to look like a fool. A fear which quickly disappeared. MARIS and Kingsbury are truly ones to watch. They mentioned during the show Q&A that this is both of their first times headlining which honestly shocked me. Even not knowing the songs, I was dancing and bouncing along. Kingsbury and MARIS were both imbued with such charm that it was impossible to leave without falling in love with them. I could definitely see either having a meteoric rise in the next year. This is only the seventh stop on the tour, so if you like what you hear then definitely attend the “Give Me a Tour” at a stop near you.

Thank you to both MARIS and Caroline Kingsbury for the press pass and the opportunity to attend the tour!