PHOTOS + REVIEW — Mitski w/ Tamino Orlando 2024 ⋆ Shows I Go To

PHOTOS + REVIEW — Mitski w/ Tamino Orlando 2024

Mitski • January 30, 2024 • Dr Phillips Center — Orlando, FL • Photos by Kyle Miller — instagram.com/somewhat_creative_photo

REVIEW — Mitski 2024

Dr Phillips Center For The Performing Arts /// January 30, 2024
Review By: Trevor Bosmans /// @trevoreatworld

Admittedly, I’m fairly late to the game when it comes to Mitski. I was familiar with the name but never really got around to checking out her music until I stumbled upon one of her live performances at KEXP on YouTube. After watching this performance, I immediately began binging Mitski’s albums that I had been missing out on all these years. By the time I arrived at the second of Mitski’s two sold out shows at Dr. Phillips Center, I considered myself a full-fledged fan.

This show was in support of Mitski’s newest album ‘The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We’. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. This was not just a concert; this was ninety minutes of straight-up performance art set to music. I felt very lucky to see this in an intimate place like Dr. Phillips Center. She could have sold out much larger venues on this tour but opted to do multiple nights in smaller seated theaters instead.

As the show began, Mitski casually walked on stage while singing a folk/country arrangement of “Everyone” from the 2022 album ‘Laurel Hell’ that could have drawn comparisons to Tammy Wynette. She soon appeared behind a giant red curtain which displayed her silhouette as her flawless seven-piece band played in the arch on the outside of the curtain. When the song ended, the curtain dropped to reveal Mitski standing on a round platform with only a microphone stand and two black chairs. It may have been a simple set up but with a combination of the amazing lighting and Mitski’s otherworldly dance moves, she was able to provide us with one of the most riveting shows I’ve ever experienced.

The set list was heavy on her new material, but she tried to play a few off songs off every album, sometimes changing the arrangements so much they were somewhat unrecognizable. As I mentioned before, several songs were done in a folk/country style. Her voice sounded so great on these songs that I’d gladly go see her perform a full show of songs just in this style.

There is never a dull moment at a Mitski show. Whether it was playing an acoustic air guitar note for note during “The Frost” or dancing with the spotlight, this show constantly left me asking “What is she going to do next?” It was all so enthralling that before I knew it, she had already breezed through twenty-three songs and was gearing up for an encore.

Mitski returned to the stage to perform her breakout hit “Nobody” and “Washing Machine Heart” both from her 2018 album ‘Be the Cowboy’. Her dance moves were so insane that I couldn’t tell if they were perfectly choreographed, or she was just feeling the music.

Mitski proved she is the queen of blurring the lines between art and music. I can safely say that this was the most unique show I’ve ever attended. I feel so privileged to be able to see a show as incredible as this in person. I can’t wait to see what Mitski has in store for us when she inevitably makes that jump to bigger venues in the future.