“Phoebe Bridgers at Madison Square Garden” is not a sentence I though I would hear in the near future, but life is full of pleasant surprises.
Fans are happy to see that Grammy Award winner Phoebe Bridgers is on tour again—sort of. If you consider travelling around the country and announcing pop-up shows mere hours before doors to be a tour, then yes, Bridgers is back on tour. These impromptu shows culminated in an announcement this past Monday, June 1, that Bridgers would be playing the ultimate impromptu show: MSG on June 4.
The show, sponsored by the music streaming platform Tidal, was a fundraiser for the Community Justice Exchange’s Immigration Bond Freedom Fund. The organization raises money to free detained persons from detention centers while their information is being processed. Ticket tiers ranged from just 1 dollar to 20 dollars, with the entirety of the proceeds going to the fund. After signing up, individuals were randomly selected to win. This innovative way of ticketing completely eliminates the dreaded ticket queues, and instead leaves everything up to chance.
Amazingly, I was one of the lucky winners, so here is what I remember from the strictly-no-phones-or-electronics-allowed sold out Phoebe Bridgers Madison Square Garden show.
The Show
Doors opened at 7, and the line extended all the way from the main entrance, to the intersection of W 34th and 8th. After bag check, tickets were scanned. Because phones weren’t allowed past the lobby, venue workers wrote all seat assignments on physical tickets. Everyone powered down their phones, and placed them into the provided Yondr pouches. Yondr pouches are often used in schools to keep students off their phones during the school day, and are only unlockable with a corresponding magnetic system. This allowed for a concert environment completely void of electronics.
The stage was quaint, featuring a couch, a coffee table, and some instruments. As attendees were finding their seats, fans in the uppermost seating began periodically waving, yelling, and chanting “Phoebe” to the Chase Bridge up above, to who I can only assume was Bridgers walking the perimeter to wave to the nosebleeds. There was no opener, so she took the stage shortly after the audience settled.
Bridgers opened the show with “Motion Sickness,” and then welcomed Christian Lee Hutson to play alongside her for the rest of the show. She asked the audience what they wanted to hear next, and then proceeded to rip everyone’s hearts out with a rare appearance of “Waiting Room.”
After a few fan favorites (“Kyoto” and “Moon Song”), they delved into new music. The entirety of the show felt small and intimate, regardless of the fact that it took place in one of the world’s most notable arenas. The audience remained seated and respectful, listening quietly to the special experience. Also present in the audience were Phoebe’s partner, artist and comedian Bo Burnham, and her Boygenius bandmate Lucy Dacus (who I’m pretty sure I spotted sidestage while I was in the balcony).
Without giving away any details about Bridgers’ new material, fans can rest assured that it continues her ongoing themes of dread, existentialism, politics, and maybe a little bit of outer space. (Personally I thought they were fantastic, and I’m excited to see the next official addition to her discography.)
Bridger’s performance of “Graceland Too” prompted fans to raise their lighters—not their phone flashlights, real lighters. After “Scott Street,” Bridgers played one more new song, one she stated has never been performed live until that moment. She also told the crowd that she would be doing a fall tour, which has just been announced to the public.
For the last song, Bridgers asked for some audience participation. Everyone stood for “I Know the End,” and the show closed out with the song’s signature visceral screaming from everyone in the room. This was unlike any concert I’ve experienced, and I believe the same can be said for many. The whole show was a breath of fresh air for the concert world. Seeing Phoebe Bridgers at Madison Square Garden was an incredible experience. There aren’t many artists that can pull off an event like this, but she is obviously one of them.
Setlist: Motion Sickness, Waiting Room, Kyoto, Moon Song, (New Song), (New Song), (New Song), (New Song), (New Song), (New Song), (New Song), Graceland Too, Scott Street, (New Song), I Know the End
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