This week the O2 Apollo welcomed the indie singer and songwriter Mitski for two nights, and I had the pleasure of attending the second performance on Thursday 2 May.
Mitski announced a UK and Europe tour for this year following the release of her seventh studio album ‘The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We’.
The album focuses on current alt-country trends whilst maintaining her signature penmanship – and her performances on stage did not disappoint.
The first 35 minutes consisted of her opening act: Richard Dawson a folk musician from Newcastle. I have never heard an artist whose dynamic singing style reminded me so much of Mitski’s.
Accompanying his performance with an electric guitar and easygoing personality, the crowd were impressed.
When it was time for Mitski and her eight-member backing band to take to stage, the audience’s energy after the ending of each song never faltered – it felt as though their screams became louder as the concert progressed.
Mitski made a dramatic entrance into the show, silhouetted behind a black curtain whilst performing her first track ‘Everyone’, from 2021′s ‘Laurel Hell’.
Shortly after, Mitski being the way she is, she couldn’t resist from enlightening the audience with her dry and sardonic humour.
The presence of the band was subtle and effective, and gave a more instrumental focus on her track ‘My Love Mine All Mine’ – different but nonetheless a great addition to the song.
The band remained on the wings of the stage, allowing the singer to take to stage solo expressing the Japanese style “butõ”, a form of dance focusing on creatively expressing the human body.
This can be seen through her quite literal dance interpretation of her lyrics such as during ‘I Bet on Losing Dogs’ from 2016’s ‘Puberty 2’ where she scampers around on all fours.
A personal favourite would have to be the performance of her track ‘Heaven’, a highly poetic but melancholic love confession.
Though the dance wasn’t as maximalist as ‘I Bet on Losing Dogs’, I believed this was what made the performance more alluring and allowed her to focus on her raw vocals – a live rendition I can confidently say lives up to the captivating studio version.
During her performance of ‘Heaven’ there was a light beam shining down on stage, which she incorporated into her dance – dancing around the beam as it moves with her to suggest the track’s connotations of something being so close yet so unattainable at the same time.
This attention to detail wasn’t only reserved for this specific performance – intricate lighting, captivating visual effects and seamless transitions between them helped enhance the overall atmosphere of Mitski’s performance throughout the concert.
The stage set was simple, with just two chairs serving as props, and skilfully designed lighting that cast her in blue, red, or white light shafts.
It is refreshing to see how with a growing fan base, funding and increase in venue sizes, Mitski is able to bring the conceptual side of her music to life differently each time.
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