Claire is a huge fan of Mitski, and so am I. Claire and I had been trying to see Mitski live for a couple of years, but last time she was nearby, in Houston, we noticed too late and the aftermarket tickets were like $700. Ouch; that’s almost Taylor Swift levels.

When Mitski announced a tour for new hew release, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, we wanted to jump on it.

The only problem was that Mitski was not playing in Austin. Or anywhere in Texas. Or within like 1000 miles of us. 🤷🏻‍♂️ We puzzled at how Mitski could miss our whole big state. Does she hate Texas? I mean, she does have a song based in Texas, so what gives?

So I coordinated care with Claire’s mom to get her a Mitski trip for Christmas. The only condition was that Claire could not miss even one day of school.

Some late nights on the problem yielded a good result – we could fly to a Mitski show in Miami, New York, Boston, or LA in January/Febraury, all for less than the $700 (each) that the Houston concert would have cost. Being winter, I chose Miami – duh. 🏝️

I told Claire we had a very early flight out on Saturday morning, but at least it’s direct. Claire asked, “Are we going to have to get up at like 4 am?” And I was like, “Nah, the flight’s at 7:10.” And then I was like, “Oh crap. Yeah, we’re going to have to get up at 4 am.” 🤦🏻‍♂️

The flight back got us home at midnight the following day, Sunday. Then back to school/work. Yeah, this better be a good concert.

The rest of the trip is sort of a blur, but yes, it was a great concert. Mitski had some amazing theatrical music, some surprising country versions of her songs, and some weird but beautiful dancing.

The icing on the cake was walking around Miami Beach in the warm weather, joking around, talking about deep subjects, napping in our “flophouse” of an Airbnb, having ice cream, coffee, and French toast, watching weirdos and families stroll down Collin Avenue, watching people play beach volleyball, visiting the botanical gardens… it was all a great time with Clairey.

It was really cool to be hanging out with what seemed like – and in fact actually is – an adult friend. I hope we have more fun trips in our future even though she’s all grown up now. 🤘