The Crane Wives, a band formed. in Michigan in 2010, has been an indispensable part of my development. I started listening to the band in 2018 after I stumbled across their album The Fool in Her Wedding Gown. I instantly loved the band. My music taste at the time consisted mainly of musical theater and the latest pop songs, so I had never expected to love the eccentric acoustic ensemble that is The Crane Wives. So, six years later, when I had an opportunity to see them in concert, I rushed to buy tickets.

I spent the night before the concert sending pictures of outfits I wanted to wear to my twin sister and listening to my favorite songs. Some of the coolest people I know are fans of The Crane Wives, and I wanted to dress to impress. This was also the first time I had to go to a concert alone, as tickets sold out just days after I purchased my own. When the day rolled around, and I was on the way to the concert, I nervously muttered to myself about safety and large crowds while checking and rechecking my tickets and ID. I was surprised to see a line wrapped around the venue, and I anxiously scrolled through the Weather app to do something with my hands. When I got in, I did my best to blend in, sticking to the middle of the crowd and trying to keep my excitement down. But when the lights dimmed, I couldn’t help but let out a loud scream of joy that the show was starting.

The opener, Rachel Bobbitt, left me pleasantly surprised and eager to listen to more of her music after the show. Most of her songs were accompanied by another guitarist and had a grungy but soft sound to them. Her voice was lovely, and I quickly pulled out my phone to follow her on Spotify. After a quick stop at the merchandise stand to buy matching t-shirts for my sister and I, along with pins for my scrapbook, a large roar from the crowd announced The Crane Wives’ arrival on stage. I was vibrating with excitement, the previous anxiety of being alone forgotten. The group started with a classic song from their album Coyote Stories, “Allies or Enemies,” and suddenly I was transported back to my childhood bedroom, jamming out to the infectious guitar chords, strong baseline, and addicting harmonies. The crowd, including myself, seemed to be infected by the high-energy melody and were screeching out the lyrics with the band while bobbing their heads. The band then moved to sing a newer song, “Nobody,” and I was hit with a swell of emotion as I sang the lyrics. I suddenly felt accompanied by my 15-year-old self as the music struck a chord with the memories of my life and who I am today. This connection was strengthened when the band moved to play the solemn but poetic song “Never Love an Anchor,” drawing out all of the emotions I hold when thinking about the past. Like looking at a picture, The Crane Wives helped me remember how far I’ve come as a person through their performance and music.

The audience was also a highlight of the night. When I was planning to go to the concert, I felt a level of sadness that I couldn’t attend the concert with my twin sister. While she got into The Crane Wives’ music later than me, she also fell in love with it, and it became one of the main things that made us inseparable. We’d write stories to their music, plan Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, and spend late nights driving around quizzing each other on which lyric went to which song. I was expecting this sadness to weigh on me during the concert, but at the end I couldn’t help but feel the warmth from the people around me. The Crane Wives has a community to be proud of, and many fans shouted out and gave gifts to the band members as the show went on. It was also a very queer community, and this shared identity made strangers friends, and soon I was tapping my feet alongside my peers. Multiple strangers complimented my outfit and chatted with me, and I found myself having fun as if we had all known each other for a long time.

During the concert, The Crane Wives played three new songs that have yet to be officially released. The songs, “Scars,” “Bitter Medicine,” and “Arcturus Beaming,” left me breathless and eager for more. Something The Crane Wives do time and time again is encapsulate the emotions and anger that come from trauma and pain. Not only do they understand, but they recognize that this pain and hurt is not just tears and sadness but anger and destruction that is lethal to yourself and others. It makes you scream, cry, and destroy, but it’s a destruction needed to heal. You have to break something down before building it up. The new songs perfectly conveyed this need and tugged at my need to scream. It made sense that a part of the band’s banter with the audience was howling together before the next song, the audience and the band members setting off a chain of screams. Weird to the unobserving eye? Maybe. But it’s perfect for a The Crane Wives concert.

In Japanese folklore, the crane wife is a bird disguised as a woman who spins fine silks from her feathers, taking pieces of herself and weaving them into a loom to appease her family or lover. The story encapsulates the pain, hope, anger, and love that is all woven into The Crane Wives’ discography. The concert brought all of my emotions and memories to the forefront of my mind and made me appreciatewho I am and the life I have led. Only true musicians can do this, and I applaud The Crane Wives for changing my life and touching the heart of every crowd member. I hope that they come to Oberlin one day so that we all can experience the beauty of The Crane Wives.