Mitski's Grand Prairie Show Mixed Melancholy and Merriment

All things considered, we’re very lucky to have seen Mitski in Grand Prairie on Friday, the first of her two shows at Texas Trust CU Theatre.

The indie-pop singer-songwriter has been on the brink of retirement numerous times throughout her career. She actually attempted to call it quits in 2019, tweeting that it was “time to be human again.”

This sentiment stemmed from the fact that for some reason, Mitski has some of the meanest and most inappropriate fans in all of music. The classically trained performance artist has gained a following of weirdos with no boundaries who think it’s okay to scream “mommy” at her while she’s performing. At earlier stops on this tour, she hit back and reminded hecklers that she's not their mother.

In 2021, she changed her mind about retirement and dropped a record called Laurel Hell with a lead single called “Working for the Knife.” This clearly went over the mommy squad’s heads, and when Mitski later tweeted a polite request for fans to be with her in the moment and cut back on recording her shows, the reactions were beyond parody. Some fans infamously claimed to be mentally incapable of obliging and that it was insensitive of Mitski to ask them to.
“Bestie, that’s great and all, but some of us have mental health issues that cause dissociation,” one fan responded. “I film to remember the moment.”

So to reiterate, we are lucky that Mitski released another album, last year’s The Land is Inhospitable And So Are We, and has continued touring in support of it. She’s better than most of us.

Mitski’s shows are usually highly stylized with interpretive choreography and overarching themes and narratives. While her show on Friday was no different, we felt like we were seeing a different side of Mitski. Despite her music and stage persona frequently touching on sorrowful subjects (during a song called “I Bet On Losing Dogs,” she pantomimed as a dying dog during an instrumental break), there were just as many moments that felt loose, joyful and funny.
“I heard that your Cowboys won,” she remarked after the first three songs in an obligatory “level with the locals” bit. “Maybe if they keep winning, they can scrounge up enough funds to pay their cheerleaders.”

The crowd laughed and cheered, despite her jokes about alienating her audience.

While we don’t know where Mitski currently stands with her fans and fame, she seemed to be having the time of her life in Grand Prairie. Older songs were given new, more danceable arrangements. “I Don’t Smoke,” a grungy deep cut from 2014, was given a country makeover, complete with Mitski square dancing on stage.
But the question lingering on everyone’s minds when attending a Mitski concert is, unfortunately, “Are the fans going to be weird?” We’re going to give the Grand Prairie crowd a B-plus. One person screamed at Mitski that they would die for her, a couple others threw out some song requests and we heard just one faint “mommy.” We know it sounds like the bar is low, but they’re learning and we’re going to give them credit for that.
Mitski didn’t engage with any audience remarks. She did, however, say she loved her fans very much and that she would miss the crowd when the show was over. She sounded like she meant it.

Mitski fans have overstepped countless times based on a parasocial connection they feel with her music, and we obviously condemn that behavior. But on Friday, we’d be lying if we said we didn’t see what they saw. Her performance radiated joy and love. Unconditional and sometimes undeserved love.