The weather in Montreal has been pretty clear for the past couple of days, with warm temperatures and a big bright sun blessing everyone’s skin. The fact that it rained on the day of Mitski’s concert felt very appropriate, the rain and grey sky kept a melancholic hum that only grew louder as the time to see Mitski perform for her sold-out show at Theatre St-Dennis came closer.
After waiting in the long line that wrapped around a good few blocks, it felt good to get a little bit of energy out with the opener for the night. The members of MICHELLE made their way on stage filled with infectious energy and made a great first impression through their setlist.
The New York-based band MICHELLE is composed of 6 members, Sofia D’Angelo, Layla Ku, Emma Lee and Jamee Lockard fronting the stage with their alluring vocal capabilities. Members Julian Kaufman and Charlie Kilgore made for great hype men on percussion and Keyboards.
They were very entertaining to watch, constantly moving and dancing as they sang in excellent harmony with each other, occasionally throwing in a choreographed dance or synchronized posing. They performed songs such as “POSE” and “TALKING TO MYSELF”, both off their latest album release called “AFTER DINNER WE TALK…”
Each of them took a moment to introduce themselves during their set, mentioning their merch through a quick and funny song and speaking about how they love Canada and will definitely be grabbing poutine after the show.
It’s always really interesting to get a hint of the headliner’s taste through the opener(s) they choose to accompany them on tour. It honestly might be one of my favourite parts of concerts. After MICHELLE was finished performing, a friend of mine told me they could definitely see Mitski
enjoying their music, and I agree with them. The members of MICHELLE are really fun performers, they dance around a whole lot and each member has a lot of obvious talent.
Although everyone had a good time singing and dancing with the opener, the time for Mitski to tear our hearts right out of our chests was quickly approaching. I swear you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. People were chanting her name, anticipating for her to make her appearance. Shortly after a door was placed in center stage, the venue lights were killed, and Mitski herself slowly walked to her microphone stand, earning a loud greeting from Montreal.
She started her set on a good foot with “Love Me More” from her latest record “Laurel Hell”. Her performance style is so captivating. You genuinely cannot look away from her. She’s always moving, dancing interpretively across the stage and going wild during musical intermissions, standing in front of her microphone and waving her arms as she sings, or straight-up dropping to the floor.
She played a few more songs such as “Should’ve Been Me”, to which she furiously knocked on the door behind her, “First Love/Late Spring” and “Me and My Husband”. She took a moment to speak to the venue, telling her admirers that she loves them, and appreciates them being there to watch her perform. Her voice was very genuine, and she listened carefully as the audience filled the room with their loud voices in cheers. She then said “Okay, now back in character.” and continued her set with unfailing energy.
Seeing these songs being performed brought different meanings to them for me. I have my own thoughts and ideas of what Mitski’s music represents for myself, but watching her dance so expressively and hearing her voice resonate through the room changed the way that I consume her music. Her creativity is definitely seen and heard through her lyrics, but actually getting to see her perform allows the viewer to further see the way Mitski interprets her own art. The stories and images I had come up with while hearing her recorded voice had started to evolve, either in a more positive light than I had initially thought, or made them far more painful than they previously were.
For her song “Drunk Walk Home”, Mitski was washed up in flashing coloured lights as she sang of the gruelling frustrations of rejection, and the dehumanizing trapped feelings that financial debt is sure to bring. In the recorded song, she screams at the end. She did not scream for her live performance, but in my opinion, she didn’t need to. Seeing her drop to her knees, grasping at her throat with her mouth hung open in what could’ve been, brought literal tears to my eyes. I didn’t need to hear her voice to understand and empathize with the pain she speaks of in “Drunk Walk Home”, and that’ll be a moment I think I’ll carry with me for a good while.
Another moment that earned all the attention it demanded was during “Working for the Knife”. Mitski had lifted her microphone off its stand and used its handle as a figurative knife. She ran its blade along her neck, her chest, and her stomach. I had never seen anything like it. To use her microphone, a tool that benefits her in her performance, against herself shows the viewer the resentment that music, whether it be the industry or the regret one might feel after creating, might also bring to an artist.
After ending her setlist with “Washing Machine Heart”, during which she encouraged the crowd to sing her own lyrics to her as she listened, and “A Pearl”, Mitski and her band left the stage, leaving the audience wanting more, even though everyone in the room had just gone through a torturous amount of emotions during that setlist. Once the crowd started to chant Mitski’s name, she walked over to center stage for the last time of the night, and gave us the most heartbreaking encore with “Two Slow Dancers”. Hearing it stapled the idea that a Mitski concert is built to distress the viewer, meant to have you leave with your heart proudly on your sleeve.
Mitski is captivating in every way possible. Whether you’re listening to her music privately or you’re watching her perform live for an audience, her voice, her dancing, and her use of props are sure to move you in one way or another. She is known to encourage her listeners to interpret her lyrics in their own way and to personalize them, but seeing Mitski perform with your own two eyes allows you to understand what her own music means to herself.
Review – Jamie Siddall
Photos – Dominic Blewett
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