I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: February 28, 2026] Mitski

I saw Mitski in 2018 at Union Transfer.  Then in 2022, my kids wanted to see Mitski and I scored tickets to Franklin Music Hall.  We couldn’t get tickets to her 2024 show and when she announced her 2026, I knew we weren’t going to go.  Why?  Because she had decided on a residency at The Shed in New York City, somewhere I didn’t know and didn’t want to go to.

And then, out of the blue, four days ago Mitski announced that she was going to do an album release party at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville.  What? Why there? Was this real?  And would I be able to get tickets?

Well, the answer to the final question was yes, yes I could.  I had asked my kids and neither one of them wanted to go.  I didn’t ask why, but I grabbed two tickets, just in case one of them changed their mind.  But neither one did so my wife and I went to see her.  Which means that I have now taken everyone in y family to see Mitski.

We arrived what I thought was pretty early but boy was I wrong.  I used the ADA entrance to avoid the massive line and we managed to get a great spot in the center near the front of the elevated area behind the soundboard.  Obviously I would prefer the floor but it was PACKED!  And this location was much better than being on the floor in the back.

At 8:30, Mitski’s band came out on stage.  The set was remarkably bare.  As in, there was nothing on stage except the instruments and a black curtain.

And then Mitski walked out.  And, as expected, the fangirls went crazy.  Last time, every move that Mitski made elicited wild screams–it was weird and unnecessary.   Mitski did a lot less on stage, so the cheers were fewer.

I had listened to the new album three times so I knew the songs a little bit.  But it all felt new to me.

There were five people on stage with her (I didn’t catch any names) lead guitar, rhythm guitar/keys, drums, keys, bass/keys.  I really enjoyed the lead guitar player–he played some great solos.

So this was an album release show which even had a shirt made just for this show (I thought about merch and I think I probably should have gone to the merch line between bands because other wise the line was really long). But she didn’t play the album straight through.  She started with two new songs and then she jumped into Working for the Knife and the crowd went crazy.

She remained deadpan throughout the first half dozen songs.  She moved very little–singing songs while standing stock still. After each song, she slowly walked to the drum rise, squatted down and had a drink of water.  During one of the songs–one with a long instrumental jam, Mitski danced around the stage with abandon and it was fun to see her having a good time.

Since we didn’t go to the Unhospitable tour, I hadn’t heard any of those songs live.  She played Buffalo Replaced and then returned to the new album for Dead Women–a great feminist song (as so many of her songs are).

My favorite album of hers is Puberty 2, so I was psyched to hear I Bet on Losing Dogs, but I was even more psyched to hear Where’s My Phone? the new single that totally rocks.  She jumped back and forth between Nothing and Inhospitable.  Then she played Circle from what I thought was her debut album (I didn’t know about her self released album Lush). And I had not heard this song live before.

This led to a run of older songs.  Washing Machine Heart and Dan the Dancer (which she hadn’t played since 2019, but which I had seen in 2018).  She spoke a few times and after she played I Want You she thanked us all for coming on such short notice.  She said that song was for us.  And so was the next one.  Which was an excellent version of Frances Forever, our family’s favorite Mitski song.

They threw in one more new song If I Leave, before returning to the older songs again.  Only the second one from Laurel Hell (Stay Soft).  And then two more songs from Be the Cowboy.

She returned to the new album for Lightning, and after one more song from Inhospitable, she played The White Cat, the song that I knew best from the new album.  This song makes me laugh because it is so straightforward

I see him through my window
The white neighbourhood cat marking my house
It’s supposed to be my house
But I guess, according to cats, now it’s his house

And that was that.  The entire album played out of of order, but there it all was, plus so many more.  We marveled at how many song she could play (because her songs are quite short) in roughly 80 minutes.

Then she came back out for an encore.  She played Pearl Diver, a song from her actual debut album, LUSH.  And that was it.

I honestly didn’t know what she would play.  I assumed it would be the album in order and maybe a few other songs (the album is short after all).  I didn’t expect so many old songs. Although since she played so many old songs, I was somewhat surprised that she didn’t play Nobody or The Only Heartbreaker.  But that’s fine, because the show was really fun.  She sounded great and the crowd was (mostly) well behaved.   I’m not sure that I’ll need to see her again, but I’m really happy we got to see her for this special show.

Also, I just looked up the first show that she played at The Shed and she played nine fewer songs there than for us.  How peculiar.

2026	2022	2018
In a Lake ⊗ (live debut)	Love Me More ψ	-Remember My Name ø
Cats ⊗ (live debut)	Working for the Knife ψ	I Don’t Smoke ß
Working for the Knife ψ	I Will ß	Washing Machine Heart ø
Buffalo Replaced ∇	I Bet on Losing Dogs ¶2	First Love / Late Spring ß
Dead Women ⊗ (live debut)	I Don’t Smoke ß	Francis Forever ß
I Bet on Losing Dogs ¶2	Washing Machine Heart ø	Me and My Husband ø
Where’s My Phone? ⊗	First Love / Late Spring ß	-Dan the Dancer ¶2
Heaven ∇	Geyser ø	Once More to See You ¶2
Rules ⊗ (live debut)	Me and My Husband ø	A Pearl ø
I’ll Change for You ⊗	Drunk Walk Home ß	-Thursday Girl ¶2
When Memories Snow ∇	Nobody ø	I Will ß
Instead of Here ⊗ (live debut)	Should’ve Been Me  ψ	Townie ß
Circle ®	Townie ß	Nobody ø
Washing Machine Heart ø	Your Best American Girl ¶2	I Bet on Losing Dogs ¶2
Dan the Dancer ¶2 (first time played since 2019)	Heat Lightning  ψ	-I Want You ®
I Want You ®	The Only Heartbreaker  ψ	Your Best American Girl ¶2
Francis Forever ß	Stay Soft  ψ	-Why Didn’t You Stop Me ø
If I Leave ⊗	Francis Forever ß	Geyser ø
Stay Soft  ψ	Once More to See You ¶2	Happy ¶2
A Horse Named Cold Air  ø	Goodbye My Danish Sweetheart ®	-Come Into The Water ø
Two Slow Dancers ø	Happy ¶2	Drunk Walk Home ß
Lightning ⊗ (live debut)	encore	-A Burning Hill ¶2
My Love Mine All Mine ∇	A Pearl ø	encore(ish)
The White Cat ⊗ (live debut)		-Two Slow Dancers ø
encore		Goodbye My Danish Sweetheart ®
Pearl Diver £

songs from
⊗ Nothing’s About to Happen to Me (2026)
∇ The Land is Inhospitable and So are We (2023)
ψ Laurel Hell (2022)
ø  Be the Cowboy (2018)
¶2  Puberty 2 (2016)
ß  Bury Me at Makeout Creek (2014)
®  Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013)
£ LUSH (2012)