Gig Review: Mykki Blanco
It’s the time of year where it gets dark at 4pm. Seasonal depression is dusting off her boots and getting ready to pick you up. However, this journey into the winter eclipse comes to a pause as Mykki Blanco takes the Village Underground stage for Pitchfork Music Festival London.
Mykki starts the night by handing out roses to the audience, one by one, setting an inclusive, well considered tone for the night. A full band (woodwind, dj, guitar and backing vocalists) supporting every step of the way. Opening with Free Ride, one of the main hits for 2021’s album: Broken Hearts and Beauty Sleep. An onlooker could be fooled into thinking this would be a typical new album promo show. But this is Mykki Blanco, we're not fucking around tonight, this is theatre. We get the full Mykki evolution including older tracks: ’High School Never Ends’, ‘For the Homeys’, ‘Haze. Boogie. Life’. Intertwined with classic covers of ’Feeling good’ and ‘She’s homeless.’
At times it felt like we were watching a performance artist at some warehouse in Tottenham. Chasing payments in Harlem. At a MDMA fueled 90s squat rave. At church. From WAP interludes to quotes from Shakespeare, Mykki guides us through it all. The audience laps up Mykki in their element, a true performer living their reality on stage. Musically directed by @Harrsn you can tell these shows have been thoughtfully orchestrated. Accompanied with Mykki’s costume changes, it confirms that no stone had been left unturned when it came to planning this tour run.
At one point Mykki holds the show to echo their post about being HIV positive and the social stigma that comes with it. It’s a sign of the times that these conversations can be shared in such a public setting. We’ve come along way, but Mykki reminds us of the compassion and love we need to continue to share.
Not limiting themselves to the stage, Mykki gets out into the crowd to perform the penultimate track. The audience clears space while Mykki clears the floor, quite literally, kicking out dropped cans and cups “we can’t have the floor look trashy in photos”.
Mykki then bookends the show with another release Broken Hearts and Beauty Sleep: “It’s Not My Choice.” By the end of the track almost everyone who was lucky enough to be gifted a rose at the start, had launched it back on stage in adoration.
Mykki closes: “Remember what you saw here”
Floating back to the bus stop on a gig-high, I couldn’t help but think about this aura that surrounds Mykki. An authentic, super star that strikes you in your tracks, yet seems so inclusive and relatable. I don’t know, I never really see that in artists any more. Artists seem to be cranked up so high on the pedestal now, the distance between them and their following is so stretched. It’s refreshing to see performer be equal parts talent and humility. So, Thank you Mykki Blanco for showing us that a night full light and love could be found in the armpit of east London on an otherwise gloomy November evening.