I had the opportunity to witness The Lost Tour three separate times over the past three months, and I walked away with a different life-changing experience each time. Now, I don’t want to bias this article by stating that Phoebe Bridgers is the greatest artist of all time, or that I would sell my first-born child to see her live in concert again, so I won’t. What I will tell you is that witnessing The Lost Tour — a completely phone-free concert that sold out stadiums, packed with a genuine, present audience — was easily one of the best experiences of my entire life.
Not a phone in sight — Literally
When entering the venue each time, everyone’s phones were locked in a Yondr pouch until the end of the concert, where one of the workers would manually open it for you on your way out. They also collected any digital cameras, disposable cameras, or any sort of device that could record video or audio.
This policy was Phoebe Bridgers’ personal request, stating at Night 2 in Chicago that it helped her get back on stage to sing one of her most vulnerable albums to date in the comfort that she wasn’t being recorded. A request that I am so grateful for, and that I honestly hope other artists will follow in the future.
Watching the pit on our first night was unbelievable. People gave each other space. They weren’t fighting each other to get to the barricade, get the best video, or get a selfie with her. Even sitting in the lower bowl, I felt totally relieved not to have my phone. Any pressure to get the best video for my social media was completely gone, allowing us to truly live in the moment.
The trade-offs were not knowing the time, having to remember your seat number, and the stress of not losing your friends because you’d have no way of finding them. But those were all 100% worth it. We even bought lighters to hold up during certain songs, and I remember explaining it to my mom like we were doing something revolutionary, to which she replied: “How do you think people did it before phones?”
While she didn’t allow phones, she did allow a notebook and pen, leading to the creation of beautifully realistic sketches of what people saw at the concert, and what I’m going to try my best to articulate.
The Concert Itself
Now that the US leg is over, I don’t think I have to worry about spoiling it for you, so although I can’t depict the way it made me feel, I can try to explain what it looked like.
When you walk into the venue, you immediately see a giant igloo-like dome on stage that eventually lifts up to reveal her band underneath, with the first strum of Motion Sickness a spiritual moment in time, the crowd going absolutely crazy. Before that, the opening song “The Outside” plays, but Phoebe is nowhere to be found. A massive globe slowly lowers down above the B-stage, with spots of light emanating to the rhythm of her voice as she sings with a robotic-like synth layered on top.
Following Motion Sickness, the dome on the main stage lifts up for “Kill Me” to look like a UFO abducting her and the band into space, with intense fog diffusing below it. The dome then lifts up to face the audience as a screen, morphing from the moon, to the Punisher mountains, to celestial planet colors, even displaying her face for certain songs.
We were lucky enough to get barricade for B stage on our third show, and the lighting surrounding that was even more breathtaking. At the end of Lost Weekend, rainbow static colors flicker violently throughout the entire stadium to the beat of the music, leaving everyone speechless. What looks like glitter falls onto Phoebe as she sing-screams “As Above,” one of the most powerful moments in the concert. To end the show, the regular lights turn on the audience as she sings “Scott Street,” repeating “anyway don’t be a stranger,” and we could see every single individual face in the audience — one of the most sentimental moments of the show.
I consider myself an avid concert-goer, and I have never seen anything as cool as this concert. The level of effort that went into this production was something I had never seen, even after going to multiple different shows for even bigger artists. And what made it even better is that she did this for us.
By the Fans, For the Fans
No TikTok fame from clips of the concert going viral. No ‘Eras Tour-like documentary’ (yet — I would NOT be mad about that), no photos or videos that she can show off on her own social media except for the very few that her own photographers take. The fact that she did this all for us speaks to the kind of authenticity she carries, and the kind of fan base she attracts.
The people we met waiting in line for the barricade were some of the nicest, most dedicated Phoebe fans, and didn’t even mind the no-phone rule. We got to participate in two fan projects, one where this girl gave us little inflatable swords to hold up during “Lost Boys,” and one couple who gave us little blue hearts to hold up after “Haunted,” both of which Phoebe recognized and thanked them for creating.
The hand-made costumes during Phoebeween (the three shows at the Intuit Dome Oct 30-Nov 1, which I went to two of) took so much effort and truly showed how dedicated her fan base is. It was a place of pure community and authenticity, reinforced by the fact that we weren’t allowed to have our phones, and that we were doing this because we truly wanted to.
‘All the World’s A Stage’ Except at Phoebe Bridgers
Life is such a performance now. Anything you do, you want to capture it to post on your own social media, put in a dump, or show your friends or family later. I have about a million concert videos that I have never gone back to watch, but for some reason I felt the need to record in the moment.
Although our human urge to preserve time in the present moment is kind of beautiful, it’s okay to let that go sometimes. There shouldn’t be a clear-cut difference between life with your phone and life without; but there truly is. Having an entire stadium where that many people aren’t on their phones is absolutely unheard of, and the effects of that were an experience I will never forget.
Let me be parasocial real quick
Phoebe Bridgers took a hiatus for years. Her fans weren’t sure she was coming back. That’s what makes her reappearance and this tour what it is. It’s special, it’s fleeting, and it can’t be preserved.
Phoebe Bridgers doesn’t care to live her life for an audience. From secret pop-up concerts across the country to intimate planetarium shows, she’s not doing this for attention, popularity, or even money. Her secret shows were free, and she sold out MSG with $1 tickets. Although this might be a naive and incredibly parasocial take, I think (or at least she makes us believe) the version of herself on the stage is her. I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan, but the difference between the person you see performing the Eras Tour vs. who she is behind closed doors is definitely different people.
Phoebe gave three completely different speeches at each show we were at, I’m sure sparked by the fact that we couldn’t record her. She spoke about her dad in such a vulnerable way, talked about AI, politics, our current society, and how grateful she was that we were all here without our phones. She realized that she was comfortable enough to share anything on her mind with all of us, making us feel her authenticity and genuine gratitude that we were there.
If it wasn’t recorded, did it even happen?
The answer is a resounding yes. All I can say is a massive thank you to Phoebe Bridgers for creating an unforgettable, sacred space that I will cherish forever (unless, of course, she drops more tour dates—in which case, definitely expect another article).
