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The world of Nothing\u2019s About to Happen to Me<\/em><\/a>, Mitski\u2019<\/a>s latest album, is intended to be unkempt. It\u2019s a home overgrown with cats, bugs, antiques, and trinkets, and a general hoarder\u2019s mess. But walking up to The Shed on Wednesday evening to see the third of Mitski\u2019s six New York City shows<\/a>, the surrounding environment of the Hudson Yards district couldn\u2019t have been more different. The high-rises are sleek and soulless, the streets sanitized, the eerie quiet of a privately-owned public space muting the city\u2019s usual noise.<\/p>\n There is no \u2018mess\u2019 over there \u2014 making it a peculiar choice from Mitski and her team to hold the opening dates of her residency tour at The Shed, rather than remount her new show at familiar, lived-in spaces like Brooklyn\u2019s Kings Theater or the theater district\u2019s Town Hall, where her last two New York stints took place. Then again, The Shed is a multi-use performance space most often employed for plays and immersive theater, so it makes sense that Mitski would opt to present her latest material in a room intended for storytelling.<\/p>\n Get Mitski Tickets Here<\/a><\/p>\n Her previous<\/a> tours<\/a> have seen Mitski push her performance style towards more overt theatrical experiences rather than traditional concerts, so it was easy to assume that this new run would mark a complete departure. She\u2019s made the residency-style itinerary deliberately, choosing big, lofty spaces to house her similarly gigantic voice. Plus, she\u2019s spent the last couple years developing a new musical adaptation of\u00a0The Queen\u2019s Gambit<\/em><\/a>, so Mitski\u2019s certainly gotten comfortable with dramatic sequences.<\/p>\n Related Video<\/p>\n I came thinking this would be Nothing\u2019s About to Happen to Me: The Musical<\/em>, a lot like my preconception of the album, which promised a character-driven immersion where Mitski truly reinvented herself. But once again, Mitski has subverted expectations. It was a great performance, but it was also a particularly raw and understated way to present her live show \u2014 a total contrast to her last three outings, which boasted sharp choreography and stark, intentional moments of vulnerability.<\/p>\n With 10 of Nothing\u2019<\/em>s 11 tracks represented in the setlist \u2014 though not played in tracklist order \u2014 it felt like Mitski was seizing the opportunity to present the songs on her album in their fullest form, with the volume up and the narrative aspects minimized. In between those songs, she plucked numerous tracks from across her catalog, omitting some big hits but attempting to keep the vibe unified and moving.<\/p>\n The biggest adjustment from the last tour is that Mitski has, at last, turned up the amplifiers. Her band, led by musical director and Mitski\u2019s close collaborator Patrick Hyland, can absolutely rip, and many of the evening\u2019s arrangements felt in conversation with the cathartic power pop that characterized Mitski\u2019s early work. It helps that Nothing\u2019s About to Happen to Me\u00a0<\/em>has its fair share of loud, fuzz-laden tracks: \u201cWhere\u2019s My Phone?\u201d was as visceral as its corresponding music video, \u201cRules\u201d dialed up the chaos, and pre-encore closer \u201cThat White Cat\u201d was a hectic ritual.<\/p>\n That wasn\u2019t all \u2014 several of her older songs were rendered more electric and powerful this time around.\u00a0Laurel Hell\u2019<\/em>s \u201cStay Soft\u201d was the biggest reinterpretation, proving to be the total opposite of what its title asks for; Mitski and her band, with red lights flashing chaotically, presented a thoroughly rock-ified rendition of the song, providing a jolt of energy to the set\u2019s latter half. Meanwhile, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We\u2019<\/em><\/a>s \u201cBuffalo Replaced\u201d also took on a more vibrant hue than it had on the prior tour<\/a>, where it had been enjoyable but maybe a little sleepy.<\/p>\n Beyond the more powerful arrangements, though, it was surprising to see Mitski perform in such a restrained fashion. Previously, Mitski would communicate the emotion behind her music almost entirely with her hands and arms (has anyone leaned harder into hand choreo than Mitski<\/a> over the years?). But this time, choreography wasn\u2019t part of the equation. It was, in fact, more gripping to witness her performing the devastating \u201cIf I Leave\u201d with her hands entirely in her pockets.<\/p>\n It seems that for this tour, she\u2019s forgoing the usual bells and whistles of her performance style and resorting to casually pacing around the stage, mic in hand, or simply standing there and letting it rip. The latter move was perfect for a song like \u201cI\u2019ll Change For You,\u201d a newer cut and one of her best songs to date. Just like she\u2019d done during her Colbert<\/em> performance of the song<\/a>, Mitski embraced her inner cabaret singer. She knew she didn\u2019t have to do much to communicate the track\u2019s palpable emotion \u2014 just remain there at the mic, poised and open, allowing us in to see what\u2019s inside.<\/p>\n Mitski is an artist with many, many good songs, but it\u2019s pretty surprising to see her perform an 80-minute set without \u201cNobody,\u201d \u201cFirst Love\/Hate Spring,\u201d and \u201cYour Best American Girl.\u201d Perhaps \u201cMy Love Mine All Mine\u201d and \u201cWashing Machine Heart\u201d have gradually gone to replace those songs as her most beloved \u2014 and regardless, she still drew upon her early discography, even closing with a song from her 2012 debut, \u201cPearl Diver\u201d (I would have preferred \u201cLiquid Smooth\u201d or \u201cStrawberry Blonde,\u201d but oh well). It\u2019s not necessarily a complaint given the emphasis on new material, but if you haven\u2019t gotten to see Mitski yet and are considering it for this run, be aware that she might not be busting out some of her most iconic tracks.<\/p>\n A few years ago, Mitski discussed feeling so jaded, burnt out, and disenchanted by the music business that she was considering leaving it forever. But when addressing the audience on Wednesday night \u2014 with the same candor as a kooky aunt, I might add \u2014 she referred to performing her music as her \u201cfavorite thing to do in the whole world.\u201d Hands in pockets, mic in hand, just standing there and filling the room\u2026 it was the least theatrical she\u2019s been in years, and somehow the most compelling.<\/p>\n See photos of night one of Mitski\u2019s performances at The Shed on March 2nd, along with the setlist from her March 4th concert.<\/p>\n Setlist:<\/strong> Encore:\n<\/blockquote>\n
In a Lake
Cats
Working for the Knife
Buffalo Replaced
Dead Women
I Bet on Losing Dogs
Where\u2019s My Phone?
Heaven
I\u2019ll Change for You
When Memories Snow
Instead of Here
Circle
Washing Machine Heart
Dan the Dancer
I Want You
Francis Forever
If I Leave
Stay Soft
A Horse Named Cold Air
Two Slow Dancers
Lightning
My Love Mine All Mine
That White Cat<\/p>\n
Pearl Diver<\/p>\n<\/div>\n