After kicking off on Friday, the 2022 edition of Pitchfork Festival continued on Saturday (7/16) at Chicago's Union Park. Mitski closed out the night with a choreographed set that was as much performance art as it was a concert. The Chicago Sun Times writes:
Mitski’s show is no run-of-the-mill concert; it’s full-on performance art in which she uses her entire body to translate the message of her songs. To fully get the volatility across, the artist employs a specific type of Japanese choreography called Butoh that relies on slowed-down dramatic gestures to evoke emotion, and it’s highly effective.
In opener “Love Me More,” Mitski — bathed in a theatrical dark blue light — was basically Lady Macbeth rubbing at her hands and arms as she sang, “Here’s my hand, there’s the itch, but I’m not supposed to scratch.” And in a performance of her stellar new single “Working For the Knife,” she suggestively used her microphone as a simulated weapon to mock slitting her own throat before turning it into a pleasure tool. Even after a brief moment of interacting with the clingy crowd, Mitski noted she had to “get back into character,” illuminating how seriously she takes her craft.