On Friday, Japanese Breakfast released the lovely new album For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women). Next month, Michelle Zauner and her band will head out on a proper tour that'll kick off with a pair of sets at the two Coachella weekends. As a prelude to all of that, Japanese Breakfast played a special one-off album-release show at El Museo Del Barrio in New York on Saturday night. They made a grand occasion of it.
Japanese Breakfast announced a "stripped down" performance for Saturday night, but that's not really what they did. Instead, they put on a theatrical production with props, costumes, and the live debuts of a bunch of For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) songs. The setlist included every track on the LP, as well as a handful of old favorites, including a couple from Michelle Zauner's old band Little Big League. Here's how the YouTuber Iron Chef Wong describes the evening:
What I was expecting was maybe Michelle and Peter on acoustic guitars. All of that changed when people dressed in monastery robes posted up by the entrance handing out hand numbered Playbill program booklets to us as we walked in. It would include all the songs played this night, full with lyrics, illustrations, and cheeky little advertisements like a zine. The set would include the album played in full as well as a select few older tracks as well as a merch prize raffle for fans. So the booklet numbers did serve a purpose!
IronChefWong got video of "Men In Bars" and "Winter In LA," two of the For Melancholy Brunettes tracks that Japanese Breakfast played live for the first time last night. During the latter, someone scattered flower pedals over Zauner's head while she sang. Below, check out those two videos, as well as the photos that Zauner shared on Instagram.
For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) is out now on Dead Oceans. Check out our We've Got A File On You interview with Michelle Zauner here.
