Live Shows: Phoebe Bridgers and Alex G, TD Garden, Boston, MA 10/7/26
As some/all of you probably know, I'm a bit of a music snob. I tend to prefer shows that cost under thirty dollars and are in venues smaller than my living room. I don't care about a big fancy light show, and typically mock people that spend over one hundred dollars for concerts. But, when your teenage daughter wants to go see Phoebe Bridgers with you... you suck it up and attend that concert.
I consider myself to be a casual fan of Phoebe Bridgers. I remember listening to Stranger in the Alps the week it came out and enjoying it, but it didn't click for me on a personal level, and I missed her 2018 show at Great Scott. By the time her music clicked for me, she was playing two nights at whatever Harbor Lights is called these days, which is on the large side for what I enjoy for concerts. Now that she's playing multiple nights in arenas, I'm truly kicking myself for missing out on those earlier shows.
I've never seen an artist take over an arena the way Phoebe Bridgers did. After Alex G's opening set, the house lights didn't come back on. Instead, the blue lights from the "B" stage were used as house lights, setting the mood for the rest of the evening. Seeing fans posting about the lights for Bridgers' show were phenomenal, I was intrigued but didn't expect much. Most of these fans are younger, and I was sure I knew what they'd be like. Turns out I have never seen lights that actually accentuated a show. The lights for the Lost Tour were planned to fit every song's mood. It wasn't just overwhelming flashing lights for the entire show. They were mellow when required, and like a rave when it made sense. The stage set up fit the show, and was quite literally brilliant. Whoever planned the stage and the lights deserves all of the industry awards.
As someone who considers himself a casual Phoebe Bridgers fan, I expected to know the majority of songs, but not all, and to not have an emotional reaction. (The videos of fans ruined make up from crying during the entire show were amusing, but that certainly wouldn't be me!) The opening song was "Motion Sickness," and I immediately joined the rest of the fans in crying. Somehow Bridgers made a twenty thousand person crowd feel more intimate than shows I've been to with a dozen people. No idea how she pulled that off, but it should be studied.
It's also amazing how many amazing songs Bridgers has in three albums. "Moon Song," Bobby," "Funeral," "Waiting Room," "Killer," "Kyoto," "Scott Street," and "Never Going Back!" were all played, and are all amazing. Part of how great the show was were the fans. Except for a few dragged along boyfriends and parents, everyone knew every single word, and every single song was a different level of magical. She also spent almost half the show at the "B" stage, which was great for those of us in the distant nosebleeds.
A lot has been said about the fact that this tour was phone free. As someone who remembers back when no one had a cell phone at a concert, last week's show was something special. Given have visually stunning the performance was, the vast majority of the crowd would have had their phones out to try to capture everything. Instead, we all were forced to live in the moment. It also made the entire set a surprise, since the drawn versions of moments during the show (which I love seeing) are more like hints than anything else. Plus, it made sure that my daughter and I actually had a conversation between bands instead of sitting next to each other and mindlessly scrolling. When was the last time that happened? (The only true negative of a phone free concert was people doing the wave in between sets.) It's easy to say I'm now a Phoebe Bridgers superfan and will happily be handing over too much money next time she's in the area.
There's been a ton of discourse about Alex G's opening set on this tour, with many referring to it as "noise pollution" and others saying it was the best thing that's ever happened. I was personally excited for a "noise pollution set. Instead it was just a set of mainstream, middle of the road alt-rock, like a Gen-Z version of Matchbox 20 or Jet. (I'd love to have seen the responses if The Melvins or Model/Actriz opened...) It was fine, with the only "noise pollution" moments coming from one song with a few random screams. Alex G spent far too much of the crowd trying to get a response from the Boston crowd about Philly sports teams. Except for a some token boos, the vast majority of the crowd couldn't have cared less. As my daughter said: "Who are the Sixers?" Maybe he forgot who he was opening for?
