SHOW REVIEW: Mitski @ The Wiltern

Photo credit: Los Angeles Theatre

For being such a soft spoken singer, Mitski blew me away with her stage presence. Her music makes me want to straight up sob for hours in the best way possible so naturally I expected her show to be chill, mellow, and nothing too wild. But I was wrong!!!

Of course Mitski knew how to own the stage like a straight boss. I should have known that the queen of heartbreaking music would also be able to put on an amazing  performance. At times she would be on the floor of the stage kicking her legs around while she sang or other times she would hit sharp movements with her arms that surprisingly aligned beautifully with her music. Naturally, her body demanded the attention of the audience during “Nobody”, which is arguably her most danceable song. She knew how to control the stage without making the show seem separate from the tone of her music. Her movements bounced playfully off of the lull of her mostly sorrowful songs. Now to be honest, I’m 5’2 so unfortunately it was super hard to see her at times because of the giraffes in front of me, but when I did get glimpses of her it made the show worth it.

Obviously we cannot gloss over how FUCKING AMAZING her performance of “Your Best American Girl” was. That song for real rips my heart to shreds, but every time I hear it I am SO READY to be taken on an emotional ride. While she belted out “Your Mother wouldn’t approve of how my mother raised me, but I do”, I felt chills run down my spine, maybe even some beer too from the random frat dude next to me too. My dad actually showed me this song two years ago, and I was like, “Dad, who the hell is Mitski???” Little did I know that I would become a huge fan of hers. It felt full circle hearing her play that song and see her live. This song also tugs at my heart because I recently got out of a four year relationship, and every time I hear it I find comfort in the lyrics. Hearing her sing live about the fact that her and her love interest just aren’t meant to be because he still needs to grow rocked my body to its core. I don’t know who hurt Mitski and caused her to write this song but they SUCK because she is an absolute angel; however, thank god they inspired her to write it as it for sure hits home for a lot of us.

All things considered, I knew Mitski’s show would be emotional, raw, and moving. But I genuinely did not expect her to be such a fantastic performer. Her stage performance aligned perfectly with the mood of her music. It was unique, mysterious, entertaining, and more importantly, confident. Her show was a pleasant surprise. Thank you for being amazing, Mitski! You make 21 year old girls like me feel special and understood in this big ass world.

— Olivia Osborne, Staff