NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
Talented artist Mitski (aka Mitsuki Miyawaki aka Mitsuki Laycock) retired back in 2019 due to frustrations with the music business and a desired disconnect between her personal life and her public persona. We’re all happy that she changed her mind and returned to music, releasing “Laurel Hell” in 2022 and “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We” in 2023. She also morphed from a singer/songwriter with a guitar in hand to becoming a one-woman Broadway show! Her music touches on so many personal subjects that it’s almost impossible to NOT find a song that you can relate to. In the midst of her North American tour, she spent three night at Massey Hall in Toronto. In speaking with a few fans on the last night in Toronto, some super-fans had attended the show all three nights!!
Opening for Mitski was Belgian/Egyptian singer/songwriter/model Tamino (aka Tamino-Amir Moharam Fouad). His set was comprised of ballads, his beautiful voice (with an incredible falsetto) perfectly accompanied by guitar, brought a hush throughout the venue. His hit single “Habibi” is just exquisite. If you haven’t previously heard of Tamino, you really need to check out this amazing singer.
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Mitski’s set begins with her singing “Everyone” to a large curtain in the middle of the stage. She then disappears behind the curtain and you see her shadow shrinking and growing before the curtain drops to show her on a round slightly elevated platform in the middle of the stage. The staging was very simple for the first few songs with Mitski singing/dancing and a single spotlight shining down on her. Her accompanying musicians comprised of two guitar players, a bass player, a keyboardist, a drummer, and a percussionist, all towards the back and sides of the stage in the shadows. Mitski did apologize to the fans who were sitting on the side because she discovered that some of those seats had an obstructed view of the stage. She went to both sides and said hi to those fans.
The show was a full expression of Mitski using music, movement, lighting, dancing, and props. As with her music, her movements are very emotionally vivid, a kind of modern dance with a bit of All That Jazz thrown in. At one point, when she was standing on a chair and balancing on one leg, I almost expected her to do some acrobatics! The staging is very thoughtful yet simple: Mitski dancing with a beam of spotlight, with her leading or spotlights coming from around the round platform, mimicking a cage. A very cool, and less simple, bit of prop were the lines of “reflectors” that hung from the ceiling, allowing Mitski to interact with them. Very cool!
I didn’t really see or hear the audience singing/screaming lyrics as I typically see with a young audience. They were very respectful, allowing Mitski to (often quietly) serenade the audience. The biggest cheers were probably for “First Love/Late Spring” and “My Love Mine All Mine”. A favorite of mine was “I’m Your Man” with its throbbing percussions. The 2014 country-based “I Don’t Smoke” felt a bit out of place in this set but the crowd enjoyed it so that’s what’s important. There was almost no talking in between songs in the twenty five song set except when she had to tuck in her shirt, having to prompt the audience for a laugh! Mitski’s encore and closing songs were “Nobody” and “Washing Machine Heart”, two of her top songs, and finally, everyone was singing along. A great way to wrap up three sold out shows in Toronto!
NOTE: As a photographer at Massey Hall where shooting from the soundboard and sides means having to run outside the auditorium to access each area, it was quite the challenge as she was behind the curtain for part of the first song and the first three songs felt like they lasted a total of six minutes!!
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