Anaïs Mitchell and her band illuminated the stage at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever on Monday, May 9th, 2022. Anais is a folk singer-songwriter who also happens to be the writer of the hit musical “Hadestown”, which is currently running on Broadway as well as a US Tour stationed at the Ahmanson Theater right here in Los Angeles.
The night started on a great note with the opener, Samantha Crain. She brings a whole new twist to folk music with her hauntingly beautiful voice. A highlight from her set was her song “Elk City”, which she prefaced with a story about a woman she met at a bar while passing through Elk City who told her entire life story to Samantha, who then proceeded to write a song about it.
Anaïs and her phenomenal band went on at about 9pm, and the rest of their hour and a half set felt like it flew by so quickly because of how good it was. Some of my favorites of the night included songs “On Your Way (Felix’s Song)”, “Backroads”, and “Little Big Girl”, off her newest self titled album, Anaïs Mitchell. As a musical theatre and Hadestown fan myself, a huge highlight was Anaïs and her band performing the song “Wedding Song” from Hadestown. Something about the writer and creator of this musical singing brought a whole new perspective to the lyrics and melody.
Overall, Anaïs Mitchell put on an incredibly enjoyable performance at one of the coolest venues in Los Angeles. If you ever have the opportunity to see her perform, do not pass it up!
Words and photos by Paige Good
