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With a swaying ocean projected on the stage, bathing the space in the brilliant light of sunset and sea, the figure holding a microphone almost appeared to be floating with the waves.
It added to the surreal effect that permeated the auditorium of Hollywood high school on Thursday night as singer Mitski performed Dead Women from her new album Nothing’s About to Happen to Me.
The stage looked as if it could have been set for a school play, with a cozy living room scene featuring a writing desk, a chaise lounge and lamps emitting warm light. But Hollywood high was on spring break, and the auditorium had been repurposed for the indie star to perform a five-night residency.
For a singer known equally for her gifted lyricism as her melancholy songs, unleashing her music at a high school – a place tinged with the emotional turmoil of adolescence – felt a bit like cheating, Mitski told the crowd.
“I got you primed,” she said playfully. “It’s dark in here – no one can see you. You can cry.”
And the crowd did cry.
While the attendees were of all ages, there was a large concentration of high school students, some who attend Hollywood high school, many seeing their favorite artist for the first time.
While a high school auditorium may seem like an unusual venue, the Los Angeles school has hosted high-profile artists before – Morrissey played in 2013. Mitski chose the space to offer more intimate experiences and recreate the feeling she had going to DIY and punk shows, she said in an interview with NPR’s World Cafe.
“I wanted to get back to the feeling that I had 10 years ago, 15 years ago, where I felt like I was in a room with a few people and we were really connecting and and it felt more raw,” she told the program.
The school held an attendance contest in which students who did not miss a class for two weeks were entered into a raffle for tickets, LAist reported.
“ It’s definitely my most effective attendance challenge that I’ve done all year … probably in my three years in the district,” school staffer Michael Reagan told the outlet.
The show attracted students from across the city and state.
Sophia Barrios and Jasmine Vasquez took a train and a bus from the Central Valley for the concert. Barrios, a high school senior who has listened to Mitski since the seventh grade, received tickets from her dad for her 18th birthday.
“I just love how her music is very broad – there’s multiple different genres that she covers. And I love that every album is very different,” Barrios said. “And I love how personal her lyrics are.”
Riona O’Donnell, Etta Spens, Liyah Ramos and Marian Torres attend high school in Los Angeles and were thrilled to see one of their favorite artists perform.
“She describes things that I felt that I didn’t know how to put into words and that really connects with me,” Torres said.
And, Ramos added, they appreciated what she was doing for the school. The rental fee Mitski paid for the space will cover caps and gowns for graduating seniors and the artist pledged to donate $2 from every ticket to a local youth music education non-profit.
“I think other artists should start being more creative with their shows like that,” she said. “They should donate back to the community who comes to see them.”
For others in the audience, the show offered a unique form of nostalgia. It marked the first time in 12 years that Jessica Torres Vicente returned to her alma mater. Virtually nothing had changed, she remarked. The entry to the auditorium was was still adorned with gold lettering “welcome to world famous Hollywood high school”, and posters of productions from her time as a student remained on the walls.
“It’s kind of like memory lane, but a healthier dose than a high school reunion,” said Torres, who is now a therapist. She was drawn to attend the show in part because of the venue.
“It was a mix of loving her new album, loving her music and also it takes place in my high school, so it’s kind of a weird, unique situation that you don’t get so often for LA events.”
The concert had all the usual elements of a Mitski performance – her precise movements executed with ballerina-like poise across the stage, stunning immersive visuals and sound that enfolds the crowd. But the location was impossible to forget.
“Does it smell like a school gymnasium in here,” she crooned on the track Two Slow Dancers. “Yes!” the crowded shouted in unison.
She continued: “It’s funny how they’re all the same. It’s funny how you always remember.”
