About halfway through Japanese Breakfast’s set Monday night, Michelle Zauner expressed her fears about the last time the band played at First Ave. She confessed that she cried for an hour in the garage after that show last September, worried they wouldn’t be invited back. So she was both relieved and thrilled when they sold out the mainroom – on a Monday night, no less. Fans who appreciated her candor shouted that the last visit was incredible, too, proving that even when the self-critical artist is not performing her version of her best, it’s more than enough for those along for the ride.

The curse of many great makers is the “imposter syndrome” that often pushes them to keep creating more and better things, and Zauner is no exception. She is a powerhouse artist and performer with the ability to connect listeners to their emotions, and this is not limited solely to music. Many know her from her heartfelt New York Times-bestselling memoir, Crying in H Mart (slated to be a movie, the first draft of which she’s already completed). Or, they’ve watched one of the playful music videos she’s directed for Japanese Breakfast and other indie heavy hitters like Better Oblivion Community Center.

Her creativity and introspection seem to know no bounds and continue to evolve as showcased. Zauner’s sense of loss and struggle to reorient herself after her mother's death from cancer are palpable on the 2021 album, Jubilee. The album stands apart from the shoegaze-y backdrop of 2017’s Soft Sounds from Another Planet, and a more-indie flair on 2016’s Psychopomp. Carrying throughout each album are themes of sex and loss, grief and longing, dominance and submission – and the attempted subversion of them all. On Jubilee, we hear Zauner slough off most of the skin of sorrow that clung so tightly to her first two albums in favor of choosing joy, but certainly, the poignancy that drew so many of us is still present.

Zauner is also outspoken about carving out a place for marginalized and intersecting identities, and she puts her money where her mouth is when selecting acts to take on the road. The queer, Korean-American performer has toured her Jubilee album with acts featuring BIPOC artists like Mannequin Pussy and Luna Li, and swept into First Avenue with pre-and teen dynamos, the Linda Lindas Monday night.

The all-girl group gained fame for last summer’s viral video of them rocking out in a Los Angeles Library singing a song called “Racist, Sexist Boy.” This song and the band’s other catchy earworms provide evidence of a generation that is bold enough to speak up about the injustices they see and experience. The video skyrocketed them to prominence, receiving accolades from heavy hitters like Kathleen Hanna from Bikini Kill and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, and even scored them a record deal with legendary punk label Epitaph Records – all in the span of a month. Although the riot grrrl ethos never went away, the Linda Lindas showed up to remind us of the importance of punk, politics, and the empowerment of young women today.

The crowd present that evening was more than willing to soak up those affirmations, with the wide range of ages and genders of attendees in the crowd. Among them were the expected adults, but some of the best (and most adorable) fans were youngsters, including the pink-skirted five and seven-year old siblings decked out in Linda Lindas shirts attending their first concert with their parents. Just imagine being in single digits and seeing four girls between the ages of 11 and 17 tearing it up on stage, in full command of their instruments and themselves.

The quartet dominated the stage, each sporting striped apparel and face paint with Bela Salazar (17) and Lucia de la Garza (15) on guitars, Eloise Wong (14) on bass, and Mila de la Garza (11) on drums. Each girl sang, too, with their unique voices ranging from growl to scream to melodic harmonies whenever appropriate. Their upbeat flavor of punk hearkened back, at times, to acts like the X-Ray Spex and the Ramones, and covered such topics as leaning on one another while navigating growing up, two songs about cats, and a rambunctious, grungier version of the Go-Go’s “Tonite.” The band also sang songs in Spanish and Japanese, in addition to English. Their stage presence, banter, and ability to work the crowd belied their age and experience. By the time younger, sleepier attendees wilted against their parents’ knees, the rest of the crowd was thoroughly prepared for the headliner to take the stage.

The evening’s set spanned all three of Japanese Breakfast’s albums and cast a wide emotional net, starting with the first three songs off Jubilee. The curtain rose to the Carpenters’ “Close to You,” to show a gong haloed in lights and flowers. The band emerged dressed in formal wear, with Zauner’s outfit approximating a school uniform with knee socks and chunky black platforms. Backlit by glowing golden circles, Zauner sang and struck the gong for “Paprika,” featuring anthemic drums beating like a parade. The effervescent “Be Sweet” followed, featuring ’80s-steeped synths and plucky guitars inviting dancing – and the crowd obliged. On “Kokomo, IN,” moony, longing-laden lyrics and nostalgic ache kicked off a block of heartbreakers. During “Road Head,” Zauner’s voice shifted from exhaling sexy, breathy vocals to stretching her voice to reedy heights while saxophone added another layer of sensuality to a song about the desperation of trying everything to will a dying love to persist.

Zauner then took a minute to explain the premise of “Savage Good Boy.” When she wrote it, the worst thing she’d heard on the news was that billionaires were buying bunkers, but today that pales in comparison to the evils we now face. With her signature earnestness and a shaking voice, she shared the self-questioning of what good is live music when the world is a terrifying place. She argued that musicians remind people that they hold the power and encouraged the crowd not to forget that.

Later, nostalgia-inducing, harpsichord-layered “Boyish” drew screeches from femme voices in the crowd when Zauner’s husband and guitarist Peter Bradley plucked a richly toned guitar solo at the end. Oscillating arpeggiated chords tinkled in waves across the crowd during “Body Is a Blade,” while the stage was awash in red light. The Purity Ring-adjacent, ominous “Glider” launched a segment of more airy, electronic, and shimmy-inducing tracks. It featured haunting violin, shimmering synths, and repetitive, clipping vocals. Zauner’s voice drifted and soared, itself on air as the title suggested. Until recently, “Machinist” was retired from Japanese Breakfast sets, but the song about falling in love with a robot returned with a spoken-word intro and auto-tuned vocals. The whimsical tune finished with yet another blazing saxophone solo that drew cheers from the crowd. After the high-energy, sassy, and sexy “Everybody Wants to Love You,” the band left the stage briefly before the encore. 

Zauner then ushered us back into a calmer place with “Posing for Cars,” a powerful track with a stark intro. The rest of the band joined her onstage mid-song, adding warmth and filling the room with a country lilt – until, with the click of a pedal, crunchy distortion on Zauner’s guitar twisted out of the sound system. The finale headed underwater with burbling, bubbling synths, and violin and saxophone melting together as lights splashed behind the stage. Perhaps an appropriate way to close out the night, “Diving Woman,” references the Korean sea women who hold their breath and plumb the depths of the waters surrounding Jeju Island to provide for their communities. A night packed with similarly impressive feminine energy left the crowd with Zauner’s reminders of self-empowerment to navigate the choppy waters of what’s yet to come. 

Japanese Breakfast & The Linda Lindas

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SETLIST

Paprika

Be Sweet

Kokomo, IN

Tactics

Road Head

Savage Good Boy

Heft

Boyish

Body is a Blade

Glider

Posing in Bondage

Machinist

Slide Tackle

Everybody Wants to Love You

Encore

Posing for Cars

Diving Woman