On March 22nd, 2024, I went to my FIRST ACTUAL CONCERT in the windy city to see one of my favorite singers!
Mitski is a singer and songwriter who studied studio composition at at Purchase College’s Conservatory of Music and has put out 7 albums. Her music is classified as alternative, indie rock, indie folk, and chamber pop. Mitski’s latest album, The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We, came out on September 15th, 2023. Prior to the album, fans were unsure if Mitski would be releasing anything new and touring again, so the news of a new album was taken with great excitement.
Mitski has been one of my favorite singers for years and she was my top Spotify artist in 2022. I love the folksy approach of the new album and her use of a choir and orchestra along with her own studio band. The Chicago tour dates were the closest to Bowling Green, Ohio, and my fiancé and I had been really wanting to take a Chicago trip anyway. After getting waitlisted by Ticketmaster at first, I had another opportunity to purchase tickets and got them!
Mitski pop-up
Prior to the concert, there was a Mitski pop-up shop and gallery in the Fine Arts building of Chicago. There was a short line for entry and the walls were decorated with exclusive photographs of Mitski. There was a merch table too. I bought my concert T-shirt in advance, but I did get a $5 zine featuring the photos from the gallery and some lyrics. If you didn’t know, a zine is basically an indie magazine produced in small batches, and the Mitski zine was printed on newspaper. However, probably my favorite part of the pop-up was that it was in the same hallway as an independent bookstore called Exile in Bookville. It’s a small bookstore consisting of 3 rooms of books, disco balls, and big windows overlooking Michigan Avenue. They had a shelf labeled “Mitski Recommends,” which I thought was so fun. For the booklovers reading, Mitski’s picks were The Haunting of Hill House, Mrs. Caliban, The Witching Hour, The September House, Piranesi, and Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life.
the theater and opening act
The concert itself was at the Auditorium Theater in downtown Chicago. The show started at 8:00pm, but we arrived when the doors opened. Our seats were in the center but a bit far back from the stage, but I was glad to have reserved seats so we didn’t have to push through crowds. Julia Jacklin, the singer-songwriter opening act, came on stage first. Jacklin’s song “Pressure to Party” was in my main Spotify playlist well before I knew she would open for Mitski, so I was happy to see her perform it live. She played her songs acoustically with a guitar and sang one acapella-style.
mitski’s moves
After a short intermission, Mitski came on stage! Her performance was carefully choreographed with Butoh-inspired dancing (as described on her Wikipedia page, Butoh “performers draw on chaotic internal emotions but depict them with precise, repetitive gestures”). This style requires strong control over bodily movements and flexibility. There were no backup dancers or singers, so Mitski was always at the center of the performance. It’s difficult to describe without a video reference, but there was a lot of moving her arms or wrists back and forth to the beat, hypnotical walking back and forth, smooth falling to the ground, and sitting in the splits. Some of the gestures and movements were sensual, but there was nothing raunchy about Mitski’s dancing. It was carefully calculated to go along with the songs and the emotions expressed through them.
stage and props
The auditorium stage had a smaller, round platform in its center, and that’s where Mitski mostly resided. The band was around the border of the auditorium stage. The band used a variety of percussion instruments, keyboards, and guitars. The lighting was mostly red and blue, but there were also some pink and green. The colors were intentional, like “Pink in the Night” was obviously very pink and “The Frost” was a cool blue. Something extra cool about the lighting is how Mitski interacted with it. She slow-danced with a beam of light, walked across many small spotlights as if they were stepping stones, and utilized a curtain and bright light to create a larger-than-life silhouette of herself. Besides the lighting effects, Mitski’s only other props were two basic chairs that she sat on or stacked, as well as reflective shards. These beautifully hung from the ceiling for “My Love Mine All Mine” and then she gently pushed up them during “Last Words of a Shooting Star.” This minimal approach to the set made it feel like everything was intentional and required extra creativity on Mitski’s part, such as by pretending to play an invisible guitar during “The Frost” and pretending to sit on a thumping washing machine in “Washing Machine Heart.”
setlist
Onto the music itself, Mitski sounded FANTASTIC live. Her voice is strong yet gentle as she tells emotional narratives through her songs. Her voice was well-amplified over the band’s music and anyone signing along. Some of the setlist songs were labelled as “folk version,” which made me anticipate sounds that are found on The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We. The exacts songs that were changed for this tour were “Everyone,” “Happy,” “Pink in the Night,” “I Don’t Smoke,” and “Love Me More.” My fiancé described the sound best when he called it “honky-tonk.” He was surprised when I told him that “I Don’t Smoke” doesn’t usually sound like a quick country song and that steel drums aren’t a normal driving force in Mitski’s discography. I believe that the reason for the changes to these songs were to give the audience something new and to provide the concert with more up-beat songs (Mitski’s songs are more commonly sad or angry than happy). Even though the “folk versions” were unexpected, it was neat to see how Mitski reinvented these songs. I think it would be cool if she released these live “folk versions” in one way or another so I can give them another listen.
Onto the other setlist songs, below is a playlist I found via Spotify. I was especially happy that the concert ended with “Washing Machine Heart” because that was the song I first discovered Mitski through years ago.
overall thoughts
The peformance was exceptionally performed and crafted by Mitski and her team. There was a good mixture of new songs and older, iconic songs. Mitski spoke a few times throughout the concert, such as to thank people and tell little jokes, and it was crazy to be in the same room as her. Every element (Mitski’s vocals, the band, butoh-inspired movements, light effects, and minimal props) came together to create an unforgettable show. It was the best first concert experience.