On Saturday September 21st, singer-songwriter, Mitski performed at the Moda Center with Suki Waterhouse as her opening act. The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We tour started on January 26th 2024, and from that day forward Mitski has been traveling all over the country performing with multiple different openers. Since then these artists have expressed their own love for Mitski’s music and how grateful they are to be a part of this tour. This show was actually Suki Waterhouse’s first night touring with Mitski and also the first day they ever met!
The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We is Mitski’s seventh studio album and it gained many positive reviews and is already her second most streamed album. The tracklist is pretty short, with only 11 songs but it manages to include songs of multiple different genres. It’s overall an alternative or indie album but it takes inspiration from genres like country, americana, contemporary folk, and orchestral pop. These songs have references of love, self-discovery, and having feelings of loneliness while the instrumental is calm and relaxing but can soon turn haunting.
Fans of hers were not sure that she would tour again because of the previous actions of her fans. During past tours many fans disrespected her by being disruptive during her sadder songs. She also stopped using social media due to fans being obsessive and overstepping their boundaries. Despite her fans' worries of no more tours she announced the tour around the release of her new album. Mitski has now expressed her love of touring and this time around fans have seemed to have better concert etiquette.
I had the pleasure of going to her performance in Portland and it’s clear being at her concert how much she loves her fans and her art. She uses the lighting, her body, and the stage to convey the story of each song. While the majority of her songs can be quite depressing it was hard to be sad during the show when you could see how much love she has for what she does.
She also spent time during the show just talking to the audience like a friend. She talked about how her day had been going, mentioning the goats she met that made her come to the conclusion that it’s now necessary for her to find a way to have goats in her life. She used some time to have a therapy session while she explained some of her irrational fears and gave us advice on how to handle ours. To many of her fans she is seen as a very comforting person and during the breaks between songs people in the crowd would scream “Mitski I love you!”, “you're my best friend!”, or “you’re so mother”.
Mitski said in a past interview with Genius, shortly after the release of The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We that “this is the first record where I absolutely stopped caring what people think,” and now on this tour she can perform the songs she wrote that are much more true to herself than ever before. Everyone watching her on stage was able to see how much her songs mean to her just by seeing her perform them so authentically.
Mitski’s love for people is portrayed in many of her songs but it’s also so very clear in the way she talks to her fans. She has such a strong love for her fans even when so many of them have disrespected her in the past. She talks to us like an old friend, giving us advice, and saying that we’ll always have this special night to look back on.
This concert was so special to see in person. All the lighting choices and the way Mitski dances throughout the performance was always a deliberate move to better emphasize her lyrics. It seemed to have so much love put into it and I’m forever going to cherish the memory of being there. If you ever get the chance to see Mitski in person I highly recommend it!