Mitski at Shaky Knees, Atlanta, May 8, 2015

Photo by Matthew Smith

At the beginning of this year, we didn't know who Mitski was.  If you asked us, "What's a Mitski?," we'd have had to say "I don't know."  But then, on March 8, we went to see Hundred Waters at The Earl and sandwiched in between opener Suno Deko and the headliner was Mitski Miyawaki.

We enjoyed her set, a lot, and were excited to see her listed among the performers at Shaky Knees. So much so that on Saturday, we left the Piedmont Stage where Haerts had been playing early to get a good position near the Boulevard Stage for Mitski, and although not on the rail (Mitski was to later point out from the stage that others had been patiently waiting there for over 45 minutes to get that spot), we were only one row of people back.

Mitski opened with the song Townie and closed on stage alone for a solo rendition of Class of 2013. Basically, she played the same set list she played at The Earl, which was fine with us - that's exactly what we wanted to hear, and besides, what did you expect - it had only been two months.  But it's possible we may have some of the sequence between the two sets confused.

At one point during the performance, Mitski said that playing music “is the one thing that I want to do most in the world," and thanked the audience for letting her do it.

The highlight of both performances, at least to us, was the primal scream climaxing the angry Drunk Walk Home.  

Mitski has a different backing band in this October 2014 video than she had at Shaky Knees or at The Earl, but no matter - she's the show with her voice and neon pink bass guitar, and the band's job is to just support her and not get in the way.

Prior to Shaky Knees. Mitski had been on tour with Hundred Waters, which included the March 8 date at The Earl, followed by a brief tour with Speedy Ortiz.  Later this month, she'll be playing the FORM Music Fest in Arcosanti, Arizona, a very cool event curated by Hundred Waters, followed by a tour with the bands Elvis Depressedly and Eskimeaux.  The closest the latter tour will come to Atlanta is Nashville, so it might be a while before we see Mitski here again.

Update (5/16): They apparently found some free time in their tour schedule, as they just added The Masquerade in Atlanta the night after (7/12) their Nashville gig.