Mitski @ Kings Theatre

The indie sensation delivered a transcendent set in NYC along with opener Sunny War

Former New York City resident Mitski continued her run of seven concerts in our area on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. She began her performances on Wednesday Feb. 21st with four sold out nights at Beacon Theatre in Manhattan and crossed the river to Brooklyn for three additional evenings at Kings Theatre in Flatbush, which will come to an end on the 29th. All seven local dates went on sale in early October and like the rest of her tour, all sold out extremely quickly.

These performances were a part of the tour in support of her 2023 album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, and opening the Brooklyn shows was Sunny War, a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Nashville – the same town where Mitski now resides. Sunny took the stage promptly at 8 p.m. and was accompanied by a drummer, Alan Eckert, while she sang and played acoustic guitar. The duo performed songs from War’s newest release, Anarchist Gospel, to an appreciative crowd who arrived early. At 9:05 p.m., a giant red curtain was the main focus on stage until Mitski came out to loud screams from the audience to begin the set with “Everyone,” off her two-year-old album Laurel Hell. Ahead of this tour, Mitski worked with a choreographer so her movements all evening were striking and accented the songs she wrote. As an example, during “I Bet On Losing Dogs,” Mitski got on the floor and crawled around on the ground, before resuming singing while lying on her back. In addition to choreography, there was an impressive display of lighting throughout the entire show while her fantastic band was spread out on stage in a semicircle.

Mitski performed songs from the new record like the first single, “Bug Like An Angel,” but she also included older favorites such as “First Love / Late Spring,” off her groundbreaking third album Bury Me at Makeout Creek, which turns ten years old in 2024. Mitski is extremely impressive as a performer as well as a musician. In addition to her choreographed movements, her lovely vocals seemed to cover every inch of the 3,000 seat theater that originally opened 95 years ago. I spent most of the show standing against a back wall in the upstairs mezzanine since I didn’t want to disturb people who were seated to get to my assigned seat, plus I could hear and see her perfectly from where I was standing. I was delighted that a few songs were given new arrangements such as “Happy” and “I Don’t Smoke,” with the latter becoming a country song featuring keys and fiddle, and Laurel Hell’s “Love Me More” also got the country treatment with slide guitar. “My Love Mine All Mine” had what I can only describe as floating mirrors descended from the ceiling to reflect light and looked really beautiful.

During the first song of the encore, “Nobody,” numerous people in the audience sang along with Mitski and as the chorus hit, she pointed her microphone to encourage them to sing “Nobody” a few times for her. When the song ended, there was a lot of screaming from the crowd into the first notes of “Washing Machine Heart.” The final song of the set also featured lots of singing along by the audience, and naturally, more screaming when the song and performance ended.

After the show was over and I left Kings Theatre, I felt grateful that I was able to witness one of Mitski’s shows on this tour. It seemed fitting to see her perform live in a beautifully restored theater in the same borough miles away from the now shuttered DIY venue where I saw my first Mitski performance nearly a decade ago. You can check out all the highlights below.