Pop-indie singer mxmtoon performed at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 7 on her liminal space tour, along with alternative/indie singer, Luna Li.
Famously known for her viral songs on TikTok, “Falling for U” and “prom dress,” Maia, better known as mxmtoon, is an American singer-songwriter and YouTuber who began releasing music in 2017. Her songs blew up on TikTok, with people doing transition videos and YouTube covers, which is the reason I knew of her. Before going to watch the show, I only knew these songs, as well as “feelings are fatal” and “cliché.” Mxmtoon is an Oakland native which I feel is always really cool to see someone from the Bay Area since the shows are more sincere. The opener, Luna Li, a Toronto-based singer, was just as incredible, showing off her multi-instrumental skills with the flute, guitar and piano. Her band was small yet captivating with their almost smooth bedroom pop-like way of playing.
I had never been to the Warfield in San Francisco, but the venue was really nice. A few downsides about it were that there was mostly general admission standing space and not as much seating. After the opener, we ended up going upstairs to the balcony and watching mxmtoon perform from there. The view was a lot better and we didn’t have to deal with people pushing and trying to get by while standing. The other downside was the area in San Francisco where the Warfield was located. Parking was easy to find underground, but stressful because of the various “If you love it, don’t leave it” signs around the garage. The Warfield is on Market Street, which borders the Tenderloin district, the neighborhood with the highest rates of homelessness. Walking around the streets late at night was definitely worrisome, but everything was fine.
In terms of the show, the stage was really creatively set up and was nothing like I’d ever seen before. It was very technology-based with windows and a door that had screens inside of them playing animations. There was also a TV that played videos from when mxmtoon was a kid. There was lots of open space on stage for her to dance and move around which kept the show entertaining. A lot of her songs were centered around reflections of her life and discovering herself and her identity. She spoke about moving away from Oakland and to New York in 2019. From this, she wrote a song called “rain” which was about this change in her life and moving away from home. While dealing with this change, she came out as bisexual and wrote “feelings are fatal.” My favorite song that she played was “mona lisa” which was very upbeat and had me singing it on the ride back home.
As previously mentioned, mxmtoon was very close to home for this concert and she revealed how as a kid, she had sat in the audience at the Warfield watching concerts and shows. She shared how she was excited to see the backroom at the Warfield and see how everything worked. It was almost like a full circle moment to be back at home where she once was the girl in the audience, which is where she fell in love with music.
Like Luna Li, mxmtoon played various different instruments like the ukulele and guitar. For me, it was the first time I went to a concert where the performing artist was actively switching between instruments and it made the overall experience so much more captivating.
The setlist for San Francisco consisted of 19 songs, one being a duet with her opener, Luna Li, called “now’s not the time.” Most of the songs she played were from her album “Liminal Space” which is mxmtoon’s fifth studio album, released on Nov. 1, 2024.
The overall atmosphere of the concert was upbeat and exciting and I would recommend anyone to attend one of her concerts. Being from the Bay Area it’s nice to see an artist who grew up not that far from us succeed in her dreams. Overall, the concert was an 8/10 because although the location was a bit unsafe, it was a nice night out.
