Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.
Before the start of the recent performance by Mitsuki Miyawaki (universally known as Mitski), a stream of cars pulled up at Stanford’s Frost Amphitheatre roundabout to drop off excited high school students.
This was the third Bay Area concert by Mitski, and the next-to-last stop on her 28-performance tour. Even before the 34-year-old indie singer took to the stage, with her uniquely personal lyrics and theatrical onstage movements, high schoolers lined up at the merch station. Like other artists’ fandoms, concertgoers discuss online the dress code in advance — many eager attendees wore long skirts, Doc Marten boots, masses of jewelry and baggy grunge tops.
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Older couples and tweens also filled seats at the nearly sold-out concert, but the majority of audience members loudly singing along and weeping to songs such as “First Love/Late Spring” (from her album “Bury Me at Makeout Creek”) were groups of teenagers. The name of her tour was “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We.”
What is it about this Japanese-born, Turkey-raised performer that makes her so appealing to high schoolers?
Some fans trace it back to the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, when many of her songs were used as audios for trending TikTok videos. It’s surprising that Mitski, who has a low-key social media presence and has been performing since 2012, gained global fame through a platform she doesn’t frequent.
Adolescents widely discuss online Mitski’s growing popularity. In the Prosper (Texas) High School publication “Eagle Nation,” reporter Nora Vedder wrote, “So many adolescents and teens are able to find comfort and reliability within the sadder, more realistic lyrics about life found in Mitski’s songs.” Because of her openness to the LGBTQ+ community, Mitski has attracted a large fan base among queer and gender-fluid individuals.
At the recent Frost Amphitheater performance, audience members tearfully sang along as Mitski sang lines such as, “and I was so young when I behaved 25/Yet now, I find I’ve grown into a tall child.” The lyrics depict how many high schoolers feel when expected to act maturely as children, only to grow up yearning to …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
