Back in June, I was lucky enough to procure tickets for Phoebe Bridgers’ The Lost Tour. And by “I,” I mean my best friend from home, Ava, was the Ticketmaster warrior, and I just Venomed her.
In case you weren’t aware, before Phoebe announced her tour, she was doing pop-up shows in small indie venues. The only way you knew where she was playing was by posters going up each morning around the venue. The average capacity of each show was a mere 400 people, with some shows being as small as 225. The venues didn’t allow phones or recording devices because she was playing new songs, which we now know as the tracks on her newest album, Lost Weekend.
As you might expect, people went crazy trying to figure out where her next show was going to be so they could begin lining up before the very few tickets sold out. “People” included Ava and me, as we woke up each morning to see which city she was playing in that day, praying it would be somewhere close to us, like Buffalo or Rochester.
I wanted her to come near me so badly that I was consistently having dreams about her going to a few towns over from me. Ava and I spent our summer making a plan for what would happen if she came near us and theorizing where she would go next. Unfortunately, the last stop on her pop-up mini tour was Madison Square Garden, and as hard as we tried, we weren’t able to get tickets.
Luck was on our side when presale for the actual tour went live, though. We were able to get two “Below” GA floor tickets for Brooklyn Night 3 at Barclays Center.
Ava goes to college at Rutgers, so she’s relatively close to the city. I, on the other hand, had to start planning exactly how to get to and from NYC from St. Bonaventure, since our show was September 26, when school was in session. The months leading up to the concert were spent planning my outfit, buying Amtrak tickets, and being really, really excited.
One of the things Ava and I bonded over when we first met, when I was in 10th grade and she was in 11th, was our mutual love for Phoebe Bridgers’ music. So, I knew this moment would be really special for us. It was also her first time seeing Phoebe live, whereas I saw her open for the Eras Tour back in 2023. That was already an amazing experience, but my expectations were even higher for The Lost Tour.
On Friday, September 25, I skipped my morning classes and had my brother drop me off at the Depew train station in Buffalo, where an eight-hour-long train ride was waiting for me.
The first few hours of the train were surprisingly peaceful. I caught up on some schoolwork, listened to music, and tried food from the dining cart. By the time we were in Albany, admittedly, I was ready to be there already, but the thought of Phoebe really kept me going.
When I got to Moynihan Train Hall, I met up with Ava and a few of her college friends. We drove back to Rutgers, where we stayed in their townhouse, ate some pancakes, and went to bed ready for the long day ahead of us.
The next morning, we woke up, ate some food, went to a few different stores trying to find umbrellas because the forecast was basically a torrential downpour, and started getting ready. We took a train to NYC and the subway to Barclays.
From there, it was a lot of waiting.
This might not have been such an issue if it weren’t for my shoe choice, which left my feet hurting very, very badly. We waited for hours to get into the venue, where, upon entry, our phones were taken and put into Yondr pouches. Similar to the pop-up shows, all of the shows on the tour were device-free.
When I first heard about this, I was a little hesitant.
Even though I’m not proud of it, I usually find myself struggling to live in the moment during concerts. I have a really terrible memory, and sometimes the only moments I can remember are the ones I recorded. Obviously, I was going to respect Phoebe’s wishes, but I was still scared to not have my phone for hours straight.
Having no device was also annoying while standing in merch lines, which meant even more waiting. At this point, I was having trouble walking, but I powered through and thankfully got all the merch I wanted.
I limped my way onto the floor, where my view was better than I could’ve even imagined. “Below” GA was standing room at the B stage, and even though I wasn’t as close to the main stage, I was ecstatic to be a few rows away from barricade for the B stage. Even if she only performed one song on it, I didn’t care.
After the opener, time moved the slowest, and the anticipation was killing me. It did, however, give me a chance to chat with Ava, where we realized something.
No one in the crowd was on their phones.
Yes, it was because they physically couldn’t be because of the Yondr pouches. But it was so refreshing, and surprisingly deep, to see a sea of people just interacting, being excited, and living in the moment.
Soon, our conversation was cut off by the first note of “The Outside,” and I knew it was starting.
To no one’s surprise, I immediately started crying.
There are so many things I want to say about this concert. It surpassed my already high expectations by far. I think I cried to every song, whether it was genuinely sad or simply because I was so excited.
The lighting, visuals, and vocals were all absolutely stunning. To my surprise, she performed a good number of songs on the B stage, which was genuinely 15 feet in front of my face. It was surreal to see one of my absolute favorite artists that close.
She even performed my favorite song from Lost Weekend on that stage: “Still Standing.” That was the song I cried the hardest to, and I mean full-on sobbing while Ava held me.
I know I’ve been bragging this entire time about this incredible experience, but the nail in the coffin for some of you might be that she even brought out Lucy and Julien from Boygenius. They performed two songs together, making an already perfect experience even better.
The last song Phoebe performed was “Scott Street,” and all the lights were turned on.
This meant being able to see the entire crowd again, and, once again, no one was on their phones. Everyone was just enjoying the concert.
I think if I only remember one thing from this concert in 50 years, it’ll be this moment.
By the end, my mascara was ruined, my feet were killing me, and I was extremely dehydrated, but it was all so, so worth it.
The train ride back to Buffalo on Sunday was spent listening to the setlist, in disbelief that I had just heard every song live, and thinking back on everything I had witnessed.
So, thank you, Phoebe, for a beautiful, indescribable show that, even without photos or videos to look back on, I’ll remember forever.
And thank you, Ava, for being the only person I would have ever wanted to experience this with.
I think I’ll have post-concert depression forever.