I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 24, 2022] Mitski [rescheduled from March 25, 2022]

I saw Mitski back in 2018.  She sold out Union Transfer and while I enjoyed the show very much, I remember being disappointed that I was so far back and behind so many tall people that I couldn’t really see her performance all that well.

In that time, Mitski has taken off even more with the young people.  Both of my kids love her (as does a large section of the youth).  When this tour was announced, there was no question that I would get four tickets for my two kids and one of their friends.

I figured it wouldn’t be that hard, since she was playing at a pretty huge venue.  But the presale sold out in like 5 seconds.  And the main day sale also sold out in like 5 seconds.  The bots were all over this tour.  It was so obnoxious.

My kids really wanted to see her but there was no way I was spending a ton of money on her, so we were SOL.

Then a few days before the show was to happen, it was postponed because of COVID.  It’s not often that we are happy that things are postponed, but this one worked out very well for us., because a rescheduled date meant a possibility of new tickets being made available.  I put my name on the waiting list.  But didn’t really have much hope.

And then, on June 15, I received an email in the middle of the day.

Thank you for joining the waitlist for Mitski‘s Philadelphia show on July 24th at Franklin Music Hall.  A limited number of first-come, first-serve tickets are available starting now and will be available through tomorrow, June 16th at 12PM ET.

I didn’t really think it was true, but I followed the link and purchased two tickets.  Since I knew I wanted to get four.  I followed the link again and managed to get two more. I couldn’t believe it.  And I wasn’t even convinced that it was real until they were safely in my ticket account.  To be honest, I wasn’t entirely convinced they were real until we were in the building).

So after securing merch, we looked around for a spot to stand.  The older kids were off on their own so my daughter and myself went to the right side of the audience (which used to be a bar and was a bad place to be, but is no longer a bar).  And we found a reasonably good spot.

It was in no way ideal–we were at a weird angle and there were lights on above us for safety reasons, but it was still better than standing far in the back.

Mitski finally came out in a long white flowing dress.  The stage was pretty bare, with a lone white door in the back of the stage.

When I saw her last time, she was very performative.  She stood very still for many songs and then moved in remarkably slow movements–completely unrelated to the beat.  It was mesmerizing.

Mitski’s performance was similar, although very different.  She walks and stalks around the stage in a kind of pantomime ,again, unrelated to the tempo of the music.  It is, indeed, mesmerizing.  The biggest difference this time was that virtually every movement that she made was screamed at by the adoring fans–which must be a little disconcerting.  [Mitski stopped performing for a little while because she felt uncomfortable with the intensity of the fan reaction].

So like when she slowly raised her finger like she was pointing a gun during “Working for the Knife,” the fans went berserk.  It’s a little weird, although there are many performers who get this kind of weird adulation.

The wild thing about Mitski is how her on stage performance really seems utterly oblivious to the audience.  She is a professional performer and the screams of the audience do not impact her songs in any way.  In this way, her shows feel like they would be ideal in a small seated venue.

But there is something pretty amazing about having 2,500 like-minded people screaming along with the lyrics that you like.

Interestingly, she only played 6 songs from her new album Laurel Hell.  The rest of the set was made up of the same songs she performed last time I saw her.

But this show was all about the kids and each one of the came away ecstatic at the show.  The older kids a little more so.  I feel like maybe if my daughter had been with them she might have let herself go a little bit more like those two did, but I was happy to hang with her and to experience the show with her.

I was also happy to see the dad who were clearly dragged along and were not enjoying the show and was happy to not be one of them (honestly, they should have all just stood at the back and let the short fans up close.  I mean, if anything is a safe environment, it’s a Mitski show).