A Changed Mitski Returns to New York at Brooklyn’s Kings Theater: Review
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New York is a special place for Mitski, but both artist and city are changing. 10 years ago, Mitski shows were raucous and raw (see: the last 90 seconds of this 2014 performance). She would rattle through energetic numbers like “Townie” and “Drunk Walk Home” and conjure loud cries on anthems “First Love/Hate Spring” and “Francis Forever.”
Now, Mitski’s live show lives in a completely different universe. She’s exploded in popularity, so much so that people have lost the ability to maintain their cool in her presence. She’s no longer playing dingy basements or even 1,000 cap rooms — she’s at the 3,200 capacity Kings Theater, The Ryman Auditorium, Red Rocks Amphitheater. Her sold-out show at Brooklyn’s Kings Theater on Tuesday night in support of her stunning new album, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, felt like a marker in her evolution, and the opposite of her earlier, more confrontational style.
The folk-forward Americana of The Land is Inhospitable dominatinated the set. In addition to playing nearly every song on her new album, Mitski has also opted for new arrangements of old standouts: Laurel Hell‘s “Everyone” and “Love Me More” were fashioned as languid country cuts, Puberty 2′s “Happy” was a full-on hoedown, and Bury Me‘s “First Love/Hate Spring” and “I Don’t Smoke” were softened into dreamy folk numbers. The new arrangements were nothing short of majestic, but she has certainly removed some of the bite that her previous tours have maintained, even with the sonic expansion that’s occurred in 2018’s Be the Cowboy and 2022’s Laurel Hell.
Helping cement the more meditative feel was Mitski’s choreography and stage setup. For the tours supporting her last two albums, Mitski’s stage revolved around an item of furniture (a table for Be The Cowboy, a door for Laurel Hell). Now, besides a pair of chairs, Mitski performs predominately on a circular podium. During her Laurel Hell tour, Mitski would wander to and fro on stage, occasionally matching the frenetic energy of her songs with darting movement. Now, Mitski has no where to go — she stays put in the center, reprising her hand-forward choreo and ensuring each move feels deliberate.
The show had a couple small effects — the opener “Everyone” sees Mitski entering the curtain-covered podium before it falls down to reveal her, and “My Love Mine All Mine” features a dazzling moment where shards of mirrors descend from the ceiling to surround the podium. But for the most part, Mitski opts to not overcomplicate, and instead beckons you to sit and listen.
“Sit and listen,” is what most everyone did last night. With several moments of deafening silence in between songs, it would have been easy for eager fans to take the opportunity to shout something or capture some attention. But while the beginning of the set featured some of that slight unease, once it settled, you could hear a pin drop between songs.
It helped that Mitski reminded the crowd early on to be respectful — not just of her, but our fellow audience members. She also marveled at the astounding beauty of the Kings Theater, pointing out that the recently re-mounted venue is said to be haunted by ghosts. “Imagine haunting a theater and not even getting a show for decades… it’s so sad!,” she told the audience. “So I was thinking, today, we should do it for the dead. We should pay it forward, give them a taste of life while we’re here… the length of time we get to be alive is certainly shorter than the length of time we get to be dead. So, I figured we’d do a good thing for the ghosts now, and hopefully, when we’re dead, we’ll get a show.”
Such was the air of grace and warmth that Mitski carried throughout the evening. Her voice has never sounded better, best exemplified by her marvelous new song “I Don’t Like My Mind” where she howls “A whole cake” with crystal clarity. She may not be launching into visceral guitar explosions anymore, and several fan-favorites like “Your Best American Girl,” “Francis Forever,” “Stay Soft,” and “The Only Heartbreaker” weren’t included in this setlist. Still, Mitski conjures an unshakably earnest mood throughout the 90 minute show.
Perhaps her next tour — or album — will signal some kind of return to form, or feature a more energetic air than her current era. In all honesty, I miss the rawness of seeing “My Body’s Made of Crushed Little Stars” combust in real time, the fleeting urgency of “Townie” ripping through the crowd like an earthquake. She’ll certainly play these songs again, and no mourning is necessary, because the Mitski we have now is as affecting as the Mitski that indie kids fell in love with a decade ago. But the power of her early work remains, and seeing her reinterpret her old songs all these years later cements a simple fact: There is no one with a catalogue quite like Mitski.
Ed. Note: Mitski’s 2024 tour continues throughout the year. Get tickets to all her upcoming North American shows here.
Mitski Setlist:
Everyone
Buffalo Replaced
Working for the Knife
The Frost
The Deal
Valentine, Texas
I Bet on Losing Dogs
Thursday Girl
Geyser
I Love Me After You
First Love/Late Spring
Star
Heaven
I Don’t Like My Mind
Happy
My Love Mine All Mine
Last Words of a Shooting Star
Pink in the Night
I’m Your Man
I Don’t Smoke
Bug Like an Angel
Love Me More
Fireworks
Encore:
Nobody
Washing Machine Heart
A Changed Mitski Returns to New York at Brooklyn’s Kings Theater: Review
Paolo Ragusa
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