Mitski Miyawaki has always been wary of being turned a symbol, knowing we’re quick to put women on pedestals and even quicker to knock them down. Nonetheless, after the breakout success of 2016’s Puberty 2, she was hailed as the new vanguard of indie rock, the one who would save the genre from the white dudes who’ve historically dominated it.
Her carefully crafted songs have often been portrayed as emotionally raw, overflowing confessionals from a fevered chosen girl, but in her fifth album, Be The Cowboy, Mitski introduces a persona who has been teased but never so fully present until now—a woman in control. “It’s not like it just pours out,” she says about her songwriting, “it’s not like I’m a vessel. For this new record, I experimented in narrative and fiction.” Though she hesitates to go so far as to say she created full-on characters, she reveals she had in mind “a very controlled icy repressed woman who is starting to unravel. Because women have so little power and showing emotion is seen as weakness, this ‘character’ clings to any amount of control she can get. Still, there is something very primordial in her that is trying to find a way to get out.”
Tickets for the show are sold out but keep an eye on First Ave’s website as sometimes a handful of tickets are released ahead of the show.
Tour Dates //
OCT 19 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
OCT 20 Boston, MA House Of Blues Boston
OCT 21 Montreal, Canada Club Soda
OCT 22 Toronto, Canada The Danforth Music Hall
OCT 23 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
OCT 25 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
OCT 26 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
OCT 30 Vancouver, Canada Imperial Vancouver
OCT 31 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo
NOV 01 Portland, OR McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
NOV 03 San Francisco, CA The Warfield
NOV 07 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
NOV 08 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
NOV 10 Austin, TX Emo’s
NOV 11 Dallas, TX Trees
NOV 13 Nashville, TN The Basement East
NOV 14 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
NOV 16 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
NOV 17 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
NOV 18 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
NOV 30 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Steel
DEC 01 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Steel
DEC 02 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Steel
DEC 03 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Steel
Photo Credit: First Ave’s Official Website