Union Chapel, 17 August 2026
I was absolutely shocked when I managed to get a ticket to one of Phoebe Bridgers' intimate outstore shows she is playing this week to celebrate the release of her new album, Lost Weekend, which came out last Friday. She is famously "phones-free" for her shows these days, so I didn't get any photos this time but above is the cool t-shirt I got at the show, which was without doubt a magical affair.
I last saw Bridgers live back in 2018 at Islington Assembly Hall, when she was promoting her first album Strangers In The Alps, which was a much more lowkey affair although you could tell she was on her way up. She has absolutely exploded since then: on her last solo tour in 2022 she sold out three nights at Brixton Academy and she's also toured with her band with Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, Better Oblivion Community Center and, of course, Boygenius with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus.
Even though I think she's incredible, her rise has shocked me because her music never seemed that commercial or mainstream to me but obviously she's hit on something with the younger generations because she has a fanbase who are absolutely obsessed with her in almost a Taylor Swift-esque fervour. I always knew she was going to be big, but indie big, like Cat Power maybe, not selling out two nights at the O2 Arena in ten minutes big, which she managed to do a couple of months ago.
I can't deal with huge shows anymore, especially in arenas or stadiums, so I didn't even try for those shows, but the opportunity to see Bridgers in the beautiful Union Chapel at an intimate show more befitting of her haunting, quiet and often melancholy music was hugely exciting (maybe her arena shows are something to behold but I just can't imagine it).
Just recently though Bridgers has gone very anti-phone, following the likes of Bob Dylan and Jason Isbell (Jack White used to be but seems to have relaxed that policy in recent years), utilising Yondr pouches at shows, where your phone is locked in a pouch that you keep with you and then unlocked at the end, meaning you can't photograph or video anything. I've only been to a couple of events that used these before: one was the screening for the Omar & Cedric film, because I guess they didn't want any of it to leak (unneeded as no one was bootlegging that film, as much as I love them!), and the aforementioned Jack White, who actually provided professional photos of every concert that people could use if they wanted to, which was pretty thoughtful and nice.
None of it prepared me for the military-style operation to make sure we didn't use our phones or any kind of electronic equipment at the Phoebe Bridgers show though.
When I arrived at the Union Chapel I was hoping to have missed the line for the earlier matinee show (all the outstores she is playing this week have matinee and evening shows), but surprisingly they were only just letting people in an hour later than advertised. I have no idea if this was because of all the security measures, which included locking phones and AirPods etc in the Yondr pouches, checking in larger electronics like laptops and iPads and searching everyone with security wands. I mean, I understand Bridgers doesn't want photos or videos disturbing the show and for us all to just live in the moment, but the methods seemed a bit extreme.
On top of this, while waiting in the queue I then received an email saying the doors for the evening show were now half an hour later (fine, as they were obviously running behind) but also telling us not to bring "large electronics" like laptops, headphones (???) and Kindles, for some reason. I did have my Kindle with me, thinking it wouldn't be a problem and hoping to read while waiting for the show to start. Luckily they didn't spot it when searching me and I was able to just go find a seat and not spend ages checking it in although I couldn't use it. I still don't get it though, there's no way to take a picture or video on a Kindle. Maybe Bridgers was afraid people might read during her concert, I don't know, not likely though!
Once I did get in I went to my usual spot at the front on the left but a lot of the seats had reserved signs on them, so my view was very obstructed. Because I was by myself and the audience was generally so much younger than me (the kid behind me in the queue for instance was just 19 and going to his first show and did not want to talk to an oldie like me!), it was painfully boring waiting for the show to start without my book or my phone, not even knowing the time, and it must have shown, because a kind Union Chapel employee asked me if I wanted to move into one of the reserved seats, which of course I did, and suddenly I had a fantastic view (I could have taken such spectacular photos though!).
The stage looked amazing I must say, like a cosy space-themed living room or the set of a TV show. At the centre of what is usually the altar was a comfy looking throw-covered sofa with a table in front where a huge synthesizer sat, with niks and naks on top, including Phoebe's steaming cup of tea (I assume). At the back there were screens with glowing planets displayed, except one which had some kind of animal design, that looked like it could be a tattoo. There was an old fashioned television set that only showed static and there were tall lights with lampshades giving mood lighting, completing that living room feel. On small side tables space-themed books and an astronomy set were piled and completing the look were different colour lava lamps. The only thing stopping it being a real living room (aside from the location of course) were the huge keyboards set up on the left (and the aforementioned synthesizer on the table) and two microphones placed in front of the sofa.
Before the show instrumental music played and about 9.15pm this suddenly morphed into a soft, piano-driven song with hushed vocals. I wasn't sure if it was a Phoebe Bridgers song but everyone suddenly went quiet as if they knew this meant the start of the show was imminent. And indeed it was as Bridgers suddenly arrived with a beaming smile, wearing black jeans and a Black Sabbath t-shirt, her platinum hair glowing in the dark. I had forgotten just how slight she is, not unhealthy looking, but so skinny she looked like a doll.
She sat on the sofa, joking "I've reached that stage where I've started doing the 'famous people wave'" she said laughing, demonistrating by showing us both hands in front of her making a small grabbing motion. I'm not sure if it really is the 'famous people wave' but it was very funny. Her roadie then handed her a black acoustic guitar (to match her outfit) and she began singing, to my surprise (as I had only expected new songs), Motion Sickness from her first album, which as you can imagine drew gasps of happiness from the excited crowd.
It was nice to get a completely solo, acoustic moment but it was also nice when two bandmates then joined her on stage: Nick White, taking his seat behind the keyboards and a very beardy Christian Lee Hutson, who I last saw supporting Jenny Lewis back in 2018 when he was short-haired and very baby-faced (he's also now married to actress and singer Maya Hawke). I must admit I like the new long-haired, full beard look. He sat next to Bridgers on the sofa with his acoustic guitar in hand and a smile on his face.
Bridgers told us they were going to play some songs from her new record now, although they had to have a sneak look at the setlist which was on their phone. "Haha, we have a phone," Bridgers teased. "Well, one phone between us."
The song turned out to be Bobby, one of the more upbeat and joyful songs on Lost Weekend, which allowed Bridgers to sing out loud and clear, and the trio to get into a beautiful groove. It already sounds like a classic.
This then led to Bridgers getting excited because she could now tell a story about a party they went to where people were asked for childhood home videos to show on the day and although Nick White is American (she got him to speak to demonstrate his American accent) he was born in England. White's childhood video featured his parents asking the toddler Nick what day it was, to which he replied in full-on cockney accent "It's my birthday, innit!" which Bridgers reported doing the accent and cracking up at the thought of him saying "innit!".
After the next song, she said, "I forgot to say! The point of that story is 'It's my birthday, innit!'" Turns out Bridgers is 32 today and she asks people to put up their hands if they are 32 too, and weirdly there is a complete lack of hands although someone tells her it's their birthday too and that they are 22 (she does indeed wish them a happy birthday), kind of confirming my suspicions that this is, on the whole, a youthful audience who, unlike Bridgers, have not yet hit their 30s! (Thankfully though the chap I was sitting next to was around my age so I didn't feel a complete anomaly!).
The song before all the birthday talk was the fantastic first single from the album, Lost Boys, and it sounded just as good in this stripped down version, with just the guitars and keyboards, the three harmonising on the chorus.
Even better was the next song, Kill Me, which started quiet and grew into a tremendous swirl of rising sounds from the guitars and Hutson's harmonica, with them thrashing away at the end before abruptly stopping. It honestly sent chills.
She says the next song, The Governor's Waltz, was written by Hutson and was floating around for years as an instrumental called Phoebe's Song, before she finally sat down and wrote some lyrics for it. It was haunting and strangely cinematic, with Hutson's fluttering guitar-picking sounding like the ghost of Elliott Smith.
For new single I Can't Wait she used effects to give her voice that futuristic, synth-like tone, just like on the record, with Hutson hitting his guitar for the beat and again playing the harmonica for its folky end, and providing the Cameron Winter duet part, which sounded just as good to my ears. I'm also fairly certain this was the song she messed up at the start and they had to restart the song. At the end she said she was glad there were no phones to record her mistake so the moment would live on forever (or now, "never forever" as Huston added).
Both Lost Weekend and Lost Weekend (Reprise) were played one after the other, starting like a gentle folk song and building to a beautiful wall of electronic noises and synthetic strings, before returning to the sweet hymn like outro of the Reprise section. With the lights dimmed during these songs with only a UV light, her signature platinum hair became illuminated and glowed in such a striking way, she looked like some kind of futuristic angel.
She prefaced Still Standing by asking if anyone in the audience had grown up with conservative parents, which surprisingly there were few and she was shocked saying it would have been a very different result in the States. Bridgers then went on to say that she was lucky that she didn't grow up with conservative parents, her parents were in fact more like hippies but her father's parents were very conservative and she was thankful he had fought against that and she had grown up without that pressure, leading her to discover her own humanity and critical thinking, before sadly smiling and adding "if you’re like my dad, thank you for changing the world for the better."
The song is in fact inspired by her father's death in 2023 and the complicated relationship they had and it feels especially touching, particularly with the thankful words she said before. At the earlier matinee show she played the song As Above instead, which is a fantastic song but this one hit harder and felt all the more meaningful.
Suddenly someone in the back started singing Happy Birthday and soon everyone joined in, with the whole crowd loudly singing "Happy Birthday dear Phoebeeeeee!" taking her by surprise and leaving her grinning, laughing and thanking us all.
For the final two songs she returned to her back catalogue, asking everyone to sing along to Scott Street, which they gamely did and not only did it sound magical in the beautiful setting of the old gothic church, but people began to hold up their lighters, old school-style, telling on everyone who was a smoker but also looking ethereally beautiful as the song built to its rousing finale and everyone's voices echoed around the domed ceiling, like a prayer rising to the heavens.
Before the last song she asked us all to provide the scream at the end, telling us to scream so loud in a way that the 400 year old church has probably never seen which may even change the timeline, she says, meaning that Trump might even slip on a banana, to which everyone cheers! Hutson also encouraged us by telling us that "God's watching" to which Bridgers jokingly quips "Fucking freak!"
They then begin the Punisher closing track, I Know The End, which of course builds to that epic finale and of course everyone did scream their hearts out making the whole band grin in delight and in response they also played their hearts out, Bridgers at one point, sprawled across the sofa as she thrashed away at her guitar.
Bridgers thanked us all for coming and said how good it felt that everyone in the UK had been so kind about the new album, admitting that "I really did scrape it from the bottom of my guts" and telling us that she would have felt devastated if the reaction had been bad. I think pretty much everyone here tonight though was in agreement that the new album was incredible and this show really did celebrate that fact.
What a perfect place to see her play these songs live, some for the first or second time ever, and have the chance to worship in the church of Phoebe.
So did the phone-free atmosphere make the concert better? Well, you know it probably did in many ways because everyone was completely focused on the concert and not worrying about taking photos or videos or even the temptation to check emails or social media. We all were full presence for the show and I can't deny there was part of me that enjoyed the novelty of being freed from the pull of my phone.
Plus it was funny when people held up lighters, instead of lighting up their phones, which to be honest was probably a lot more dangerous but looked cool! But do I want phone-free concerts every time? Personally no, because I'm old enough that I went to plenty of concerts in the 90s (and even well into the noughties) without photos and cameras, so I've had that experience many times and I prefer having my phone and being able to commemorate the moment with a photo. It's something I enjoy and I like watching videos people have taken of concerts on YouTube. Neko Case doesn't like people using phones during her shows but when I felt nostalgic to hear one of her songs live I couldn't find a single video from her recent tours and, for me, it felt a little sad that those moments are now gone forever. But I know that's how she likes it.
Plus, as I'm also a solo concert goer, I always feel nervous being parted from my phone, particularly with a sick parent at home and people not able to contact me for a few hours. It would definitely give me pause if every concert was like this. But this one was definitely freeing and, aside from the waiting, the concert itself was without a doubt special.
Edit: Phoebe later postponed all the rest of her outstores this week due to illness, posting on her Instagram: "I got appendicitis for my birthday" over a photo of her looking poorly at the hospital. So I am super lucky to have seen one of these release week shows. Hopefully she will be feeling better soon!
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