One of Mitski’s first recorded performances was in 2011 for Purchase College’s Conservatory of Music’s 1st Annual Unicef Benefit Concert. The then-21-year-old played the piano and sang her original song, “Liquid Smooth,” from what would become her debut album, “Lush.” The track is an intimate exploration of convoluted feelings toward beauty expectations and aging. Her mezzo-soprano voice afflicted and haunted the audience along with the instrumentals. Even in these early performances, she exhibits an intimate artistry that permeates today.
Flash forward to 2021, Mitski’s 2018 release “Nobody” catapulted her to the spotlight when TikTok users used her song as a meme where they ran away from their troubles.“Washing Machine Heart,” “Your Best American Girl,” “First Love / Late Spring” and especially her latest release “My Love Mine All Mine”—which has been used over 2.2 million—set their own TikTok trends for their visceral emotions and lyrics which come to life in her concerts.
Outside of TikTok, her fans have accepted her range of music and singing style which vary from ballads and consciously graceless indie rock. Her eccentric music videos also showcase a myriad of strange performances, such as “Your Best American Girl,” where she kisses her hand passionately as another couple undresses with intimacy. She often screams and sometimes presses the microphone into her mouth in an eating motion. In her now iconic Tiny Desk performance, Mitski sings “Class of 2013” with a whispering melody. During the third verse, she presses her guitar against her mouth to make an echoey and jarring sound as she pleads, “Mom, will you wash my back? / This once.”
Her Tiny Desk performance had YouTube commenters saying “Mitski’s music is meant to be a knife to the gut, a punch to the eye” and “The way she unapologetically shows up with her raw emotions and intensity throughout the whole thing. The way she dares to break open and wear her wounds like diamonds, so proudly. Nothing inspires me more.”
Despite Mitski’s vulnerable craft, the artist has expressed uncomfortability with a public image.
Mitski has been forthcoming about her uncomfortable relationship with the public, keeping her listeners at a distance. In 2016, she logged off Tumblr after fans threatened to kill themselves if she didn’t respond to their requests. In 2019, she deleted Twitter and hasn’t maintained a personal social media account since. Still, the artist is available on TikTok as @mitskileaks, where her team promotes her concerts or has her articulate the inspiration behind her songs. The account does not follow anyone and they never respond to comments.
Like the TikTok videos from her official account, her performances are both an effort to maintain an ugly sight in order to distance herself from her fans and an inviting dinner for audiences hungry for connection. Her uniquely bizarre performances include excess physical and obscure facial movements.
Mitski portrays her vulnerability through the way she uses her body, as shown in her current “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We” tour, which began in January and will end in April. She makes herself a spectacle to observe and absorb in her seated shows. However, TikTok users are criticizing audiences for not respecting concert etiquette, especially towards Mitski’s unexpected and strange productions. The performances for her current tour include using the spotlight as her dance partner, crawling on the floor on all fours and panting like a dog, laying down in a fetal position and flailing her entire body with unsettling wide eyes.
Some comments make fun of her appearance or call her “kooky” and others remark “Mitski+Rabies” and “Mitski please get up” but others defend her. Clips of her current shows have TikTok fans commenting “She invented emotions” and “I’m scared this is going to tear me apart.”
@robloxoriginal0♬ original sound – robloxoriginal0
TikTok users have posted memes regarding the recent demeaning behavior of fans and how this creates an awkward concert experience. Someone calls her “shawty” in one clip and meows toward the stage. In another incident, Mitski expressed uncomfortably when someone shouted “Mother is mothering” and another yelled “Mother” during a silent moment. In the first incident, she told the audience that people who scream will only be heard by those around them and responded by saying “No. Silly” to the latter. Many fans believe this social inadequacy has grown in all concerts due to the COVID-19 quarantine.
@connorhesseeI know ur hurt, like, UR AT A MITSKI CONCERT. BUT EVERYBODY HURT SO CHILL😭♬ original sound – Connor Hesse
Most fans also theorize that this lack of concert etiquette in her performances is due to attendees’ attempts to draw attention to themselves or entitlement towards Mitski’s art. Culture and identity influence her songs like “Strawberry Blonde” and “Happy.” Some users believe that these catcalls and screams are due to fans not wholly understanding the deep-rooted trauma and pain of women of color.
Yearning for another is a consistent parallel, where Mitski yearns for an unrequited love (whether romantic, for her parents or for societal acceptance) and her fans yearn for her closeness. Mitski’s concerts showcase not only the artistry of raw songwriting but the artistry of performances. The stage is her bleeding heart and she refuses to let fans buy her personhood.
