Albums of the Month

[albumsofthemonth]

Concert Review - LAMP / Mitski in Cleveland, Ohio

I'm rarely one to shy away from a trip specifically for a concert. I have driven long distances both solo and with friends for shows states away, particularly for artists who tend to sell tickets at alarming rates - Mitski is no exception. I'm lucky enough to have seen her 3 other times, once in New York City with Lucy Dacus opening, and twice in Colorado: one with her opening for Death Cab for Cutie and the other with Michelle opening for her. I love her performances, I trust that her openers will be incredible, and above all else I have enjoyed seeing how her shows have grown, even since the major success of Be The Cowboy. As soon as I saw there would be a tour for her latest release, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, I knew I needed to grab a ticket. With how quickly these tickets sell, I knew I would have to opt for a different city. So voila - Cleveland, Ohio it is.

Despite the horror stories I've heard throughout my life about Cleveland, I found it to be a very pleasant (and eerily quiet) city. We stayed in a hotel downtown and spent free time roaming around Playhouse Square and taking an emotional journey through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (a must-visit for music fans). The water was beautiful and the area was overall very walkable.

The show was at Jacob's Pavilion, a lovely amphitheater on the water with a picturesque view of the bridge and various downtown buildings. The weather was clear with a slight breeze. My only complaint about the venue? The seats were a little uncomfortable. Don't let that discourage you from attending shows here, the complaint could easily have been resolved by bringing in something to sit on, which is allowed. Our seats were in section 4, row J which meant we'd be further to the left side of the stage, near the edge of the seating. Despite this, the view was still pretty good and the sound was of decent quality.

The opener was Lamp, a Japanese indie band formed in 2000. Their smooth, danceable, melt-in-your-mouth, city pop-esque tunes fit perfectly as golden hour lighting engulfed the water scenery behind the stage. I watched cars pull up across the river to listen to the show in the comfort of their hatchbacks. Others walked into the grassy area and listened on picnic blankets. Lamp, playing with 7 members, featured solos from a wide array of instruments: flute, trumpet, bongos - the band received well-deserved stomps from the crowd, the rumble reverberating mixed with whoops and hollers.

The anticipation for Mitski grew so much that when stagehands turned the flood lights off after setting up, the crowd had mistaken the sudden darkness as Mitski's entrance. Hundreds of phones sat with thumbs ready to hit "record," but her pre-show music (which was the same song on repeat) continued. A curtain was lowered onto a small circular platform center-stage, and a warm light was illuminated onto it, causing its appearance to resemble a gentle fire. The music cut and the crowd yelled, stomping their feet even louder and cheering.

Mitski emerged with a full band and played for about 2 hours. She molded many of her well-known songs into new renditions, bending their genres into something entirely new. Instead of the usual train-like churning beat behind Happy, she added qualities akin to Send Me On My Way. Slide guitar was added to Fireworks, and the tempo was slowed to a saunter. Mitski seemed significantly more comfortable on stage; more relaxed and playful - sporting a roomy button down with slacks, she got laughs from the crowd as she mimicked a dog during I Bet On Losing Dogs. She even did a fitting single-person line dance to Lonesome Love - overall, this performance was a joy to watch.

The use of lighting was immaculate during this show as Mitski made the lights fulfill different roles - they projected her shadow onto the curtain and side of the stage, it grew and shrunk with the swells of each song. The lights were also her dance partner during an emotional rendition of Heaven. Delicate strings of what appeared to be mirror shards hung above Mitski's circular platform, reflecting a brilliant bright red lighting onto the tent above the crowd. Mitski truly made the stage her playground through the duration of the set and it made for an entirely new concert experience, wildly different from shows I've had the opportunity to see in the past. Her movement in all that she did on stage was completely intentional and well-rehearsed, which captured the attention of the viewer and added more detail and context to her already thought-provoking lyrics. A simple pose drove the crowd to stomp and cheer even when music wasn't playing. After an entertaining set the crowd demanded one more song, and the band reemerged to finish the night with Nobody and Washing Machine Heart.

[albumsofthemonth]

"Shouldn't Be" by Dreamist

"Shouldn't Be" is an album by KCMO post-hardcore band Dreamist. I'm extremely fortunate to have gained early access to this debut LP. And what a debut it will be! Seriously, this thing needs to be sold with a "PLAY LOUD" suggestion. Right off the bat, the guitars in "Moon" hit you like a freight train. Followed by softer lyricism, "Faces, phasing, waxing, waning," which sets the tone in terms of theme.

The theme of this album to me is the reality of change. The ugliness and discomfort when you stop prioritizing what others think of you, when you stop holding onto who you were, and when you stop people-pleasing. The slower, softer nature of "Honesty" felt oddly nostalgic to me. It reminds me of what once was, coming to terms with whether or not you can continue keeping up with the person you have always been and the person you are becoming. As the song states, "it's easy to feel nothing, but it's harder to be."

In "Family History," the drums really shine and set the style while the guitars set the darker tone. The moments of dynamic swelling with the synth and cymbals that lead back into the original beat is brilliant, and something I don't catch in a lot of songs. Around halfway through the song is a great ambient moment that leads into the latter half, marked by the lyrics "the future is ugly." To me, this is another song about confronting ugly truths - it hangs onto the theme of change and processing. "It still doesn't feel real" is repeated - grief is not linear, time will feel fake, and life will never feel the same again. The moment of distortion at the end is like stepping back after a period of destruction and looking at the wreckage for the first time. There is no going back to what once was.

This all builds up to the closing track, "Mirror". After processing the themes of the other songs - conflict, grief - this song feels like a conclusive thought. Who have I become? Is this really me? When was the last time I've truly been me? The repeated lyrics, "I am distorted, you are amused, you love it when I'm just like you" is a real depiction of the struggle that comes with pushing yourself to the point of becoming someone you were never meant to be. There is comfort in being liked - in contorting yourself to become the other. This track, and the entire album, reflects upon that (pun intended). As the album ends, I can't help but feel a tinge of hope as there is a budding sense of strength in noticing these things.

This amazing, fully-loaded LP has the range. It comes out September 13th - keep your eyes peeled for this gem in the Kansas City music scene, Dreamist.