The Mitski army was in full force Friday evening at the indie music singer's packed show in New York City. Not only were they singing the lyrics along with her, but the audience members cheered and sometimes screamed with a fever-pitch fanaticism usually reserved for mainstream pop stars—with a few crying out "I love you Mitski!" and "You saved my life!" Such adulation spoke volumes about Mitski's uncanny ability to connect with people through her emotionally charged music and performances.
Mitski's appearance in the Big Apple for the first of two sold-out dates at Radio City Music Hall was the latest stop of the Laurel Hell tour, named after her sixth studio album, released earlier this year to critical acclaim. That record was another significant marker in the singer's upward career trajectory that began with her third album 2014's Bury Me at Makeout Creek and continued through the subsequent breakthrough records Puberty 2 (2016) and Be the Cowboy (2018).
The four-year gap between Be the Cowboy and Laurel Hell did nothing to diminish her forward momentum: the video for Laurel Hell's first single, "Working the Knife," immediately garnered over 900,000 views on YouTube just shortly after its premiere in October 2021. In tackling such subjects as sadness, hurt, pain and relationships, Mitski's songwriting along with her haunting singing certainly gives a voice for the disaffected.
"I needed love songs about real relationships that are not power struggles to be won or lost," Mitski said in a press statement announcing Laurel Hell at the time. "I needed songs that could help me forgive both others and myself. I make mistakes all the time. I don't want to put on a front where I'm a role model, but I'm also not a bad person. I needed to create this space mostly for myself where I sat in that gray area."
"Working the Knife" was also one of the songs performed during Friday's approximately 90-minute show, which offered a more-than-balanced overview of the artist's catalog so far. Amid a mixture of art pop, electronic pop and stadium-ready guitar rock, the newer songs from the recently-released Laurel Hell such as "Love More" and "Should've Been Me" nestled seamlessly with familiar favorites like "Nobody," "Townie," "Francis Forever," and "First Love/Late Spring."
Complementing the music's gravitas during the show was Mitski's charismatic stage presence, which also got the singer's fans worked up with intense joy. Her dramatic and mesmerizing moves–whether it was her hand gestures or the occasional high leg kick–mimicked many a number of influences: ballet, modern dance, pantomime, Kate Bush. The rare moment Mitski broke out of character occurred when she addressed the crowd to express her affection towards them in the city where she wrote several of the songs performed in the set.
In his Guardian interview with the singer, Bean Beaumont-Thomas wrote: "Mitski's frankness has made her a cult figure among millennials and gen Z – generations that have rejected emotional repression with such enthusiasm." Mitski's connection to that particular demographic was on full display at the Radio City show--an experience that felt more like a spiritual revival meeting than your average typical rock show.
Mitski's New York City Setlist:
Love Me More
Working for the Knife
I Will
I Bet on Losing Dogs
I Don't Smoke
Washing Machine Heart
First Love / Late Spring
Geyser
Me and My Husband
Drunk Walk Home
Nobody
Should've Been Me
Townie
Your Best American Girl
Heat Lightning
The Only Heartbreaker
Stay Soft
Francis Forever
Once More to See You
Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart
Happy
Two Slow Dancers
Encore:
A Pearl
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