Concert Musings: Mitski at Massey Hall, 2024
99 box office phone calls later, I scored one ticket for Mitski's coveted Toronto show at Massey Hall.
The day when I was going to see Mitski, was a day I’d hoped to run into more of my own friends as we’ve all been devoted fans for quite some time. It didn’t end up going as planned, because the box office over at Massey Hall (one of Toronto’s best concert venues, in my eyes) kept crashing online for us, and we went from being first in line to being sent to the back of 4000+ person long queues. At a certain point, trying to wait in the online queue only felt so hopeless to the point that I almost gave up with getting a ticket. But it didn’t deter me from calling the venue themselves with the aim being as clear as ever: score a single ticket to see her perform.
And after so many hang-ups, a phone call that died on me in the middle of our conversation, and waiting in even longer queues, I managed to get exactly one ticket, on a date that was added due to popular demand. After the frustration of having to get as much as one ticket just so that I could see Mitski performing, I decided that with the added date, I could settle with whatever seat they give me. I didn’t even care about the price of the ticket, I was willing to put myself in even more debt than I already was enduring because I did not want to miss out on the opportunity to see Mitski live.
But that just so happens to be where exactly things got so much better for myself. I got a floor seat, and one that was actually very close up to her. In fact, it was so close up to the point that I’m even surprised my ticket was only somewhere within the $100 range. Granted, I had also paid only $40 to see Ichiko Aoba at a general admission show where I had the opportunity to see her very close up (a concert opportunity I would absolutely recommend catching if you ever have that chance), but for an artist like Mitski, I was actually very stunned.
To say the least, the vibes were just perfect at this show. Everything was astonishingly chill, because that’s about what you’d hope for a show like this. Her set list, which comprised of a handful of songs from her recent album and many of the familiar classics were performed, but seeing her on the stage only had me realize how incredible she is a live performer. She’s a great dancer for one, but I think what’s most important is that when listening to her singing – every bit of her voice just gets right into your soul, like there’s nothing else around you in that space.
Something I’ll also admit, for most concerts that I do attend, I’ve always had a habit of trying to get as many fancams as possible so that I can put them either on social media or in my Instagram stories. But with Mitski, I restrained myself a bit (though I could not resist the opportunity to capture some of my favourite songs), only because I knew Mitski was an artist who’d much rather people who are seeing her perform live within the moment. Mitski isn’t really much of a fan of these1, but I also can’t say I blame her after an incident where someone kept “meowing” her at a prior show – which I can only imagine would be embarrassing to have to put up with.
Thankfully nothing like this of the sort ever happened here. All the fans who came were very well-behaved and I even ended up running into some old classmates from my time at Sheridan, as well as a fellow cinephile (and yes, we exchanged our Letterboxd handles). I found that at least here, compared to most other shows that I’ve been to within the past few years, it was really easy to find common links between myself and the other fans that I did meet up with, especially as I was a bit light on my concertgoing ventures last year (the only shows that I ended up seeing were TWICE and Rina Sawayama). It also feels nice to be in a space where everyone’s sitting down to listen to Mitski perform, especially because of the mellow moods of her music too. I think that’s what really most important when thinking about how someone like Mitski performs, but also, her banter with the fans at this show was just truly adorable: even going out of her way to speak to fans whose gallery views were obstructed by the speakers (this is something I’ve been a bit frustrated with at Massey Hall in the past).
I think the only thing I wanted more out of a show like this was to hear more of my favourite songs: though that isn’t so much of a major complaint. Obviously, given her fans, it meant that we’d have to hear the obvious favourites like “Nobody” from Be the Cowboy or last year’s “My Love Mine All Mine” from The Land is Inhospitable And So Are We (which just happened to be where most of the songs performed had come from). But at the very least, some of my favourites from Bury Me at Makeout Creek (my favourite album of hers) were performed, including “Last Words of a Shooting Star” and “First Love / Late Spring.”
What did surprise me though, was hearing her perform some folk renditions of “Everyone,” “Working for the Night,” “Valentine, Texas,” “Love Me More” (Laurel Hell), “I Don’t Smoke” (Bury Me at Makeout Creek), and “Pink in the Night” (Be the Cowboy). Truth be told, I’ve never really been much of a fan of Laurel Hell, but hearing these versions of the songs made me want to give that album another chance – because I think that they might be some of the very best that Mitski has ever sounded too. Considering how beautifully she sounds within the recreations of the Americana folk music scene, I also wouldn’t be opposed to seeing her potentially record an album in that style (probably unlikely, but one can dream). It feels like it’s perfectly suited to her voice, which is already very beautiful as is.
Though at the end of it all, for what is my first concert of the year (hopefully more are to come, if I’m able to make some sort of an income), I got a whole lot more than what I could have asked for. Mitski has been a favourite of mine from my late high school years onward, and I think that I got just about everything I could ask for out of a performer like her after finally being able to see her perform, after missing out on her previous Toronto show. Will I ever be so lucky to see her again soon? I hope that one of those days could come soon.
Without further ado, here are a few more favourites that I hoped would be performed, so you can get a taste of her music if you haven’t listened:
(this is one of the first songs that I listened to that really got me into her music)
(maybe this one just hits a bit too close to home)
(there are too many songs from this album I could select)
(always relatable)
(so, I’ll admit, I’m not nearly as big on Be the Cowboy as most of my friends are, but this song just rules)
(if you saw the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once, you should recognize this one, because it’s the song she was Oscar nominated for!)
Zemler, E. (2022, February 25). Mitski asks fans to put their phones away during her upcoming shows. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mitski-phones-statement-tour-1312596/
So glad you were able to get a coveted ticket, and so close to the stage too! It's kind of crazy how difficult it is to get concert tickets these days. It really takes the excitement away from a lot of fans who do want to see their fave artists and won't be able to due to the way ticketing works these days.