This tour is in support of Mitski’s latest album, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, which several of our music writers named as one of their favorite albums of 2023. The album was a joy not just in its content, but in its sheer existence. After some degrading experiences on her last few tours, fans should count themselves lucky that Mitski is still performing at all.
For those not familiar with Mommygate, we’ll give you the short version. Mitski has an intense (some would say chronically online) fanbase, many of whom have used their connection to her music as an excuse to act like absolute gremlins at her shows and ruin the experience for other fans and for Mitski herself, by screaming things like “mommy” at her during concerts.
Unfortunately, Mitski is not the first female performer to be called “mommy” and won’t be the last. You could make a case, however, for her having it the worst. In past interviews, she’s expressed discomfort with being put on a pedestal by fans and how their high expectations for her sometimes set her up for failure.
Tensions came to a head in 2022 during her aptly named Laurel Hell Tour. Mitski tweeted (and later deleted) a levelheaded and reasonable request for fans to not film her entire show and try to be in the moment with her.
“You can experience magic at a show,” she tweeted. “But only if you’re there to catch it.”
The reaction was beyond parody, with fans coming up with the most condescending and asinine reasons why it was wrong of Mitski to politely ask that they only film some and not all of the show. Some accused the singer of ableism, with some fans claiming they were mentally incapable of remembering the show if they didn’t film it. It was ugly.
Mitski has openly contemplated retirement more than once. In 2019, she declared that the final stop of her Be The Cowboy Tour would be her last show indefinitely, tweeting that it was “time to be human again” before temporarily deleting all of her social media.Bestie that’s great & all, but some of us have mental health issues that cause dissociation & i film to remember the moment I’m not looking at my phone the entire time just to press record on :)
— Michelle 👑 (@MichelleR5100) February 25, 2022
Despite all of that, Mitski is gracing North Texas with her presence once more. Her two-night stand in Grand Prairie is sure to be a spectacle, if not for the show itself but for the audience, which will largely consist of gay girls avoiding eye contact with past dating app matches.
Tickets are being sold via a lottery, and registration is open now. If you’re fortunate enough to go, please be good. Or at least don’t be the crowd that makes her want to quit again. We’d love for her to keep coming back.
