Phoebe Bridgers Performs Pop-Up Show at Madison Square Garden, Announces Phone-Free Arena Tour
Phoebe Bridgers, photo by Olof Grind
Phoebe Bridgers has returned for her first performances in three years over the past month with a few pop-up shows at bars and small venues outside of major markets, and last night she took the concept to a new scale with a sold-out surprise performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Bridgers announced her show at the World’s Most Famous Arena last week, and tickets were kept under a strict two-per-person purchase limit for as little as one dollar each, with all proceeds going to Immigration Bond Freedom Fund. Like the intimate stagings she’s shared off the beaten path since she landed in Roswell on May 8, recording devices were banned from the venue, with all 15,000+ attendees required to deposit their phones in locked Yondr pouches for the duration of the show. Not even a pad and pencil could make it through security.
Today, Bridgers followed that historic performance by announcing many more on the Lost Tour. The singer-songwriter will hold to her no-phones policy for nearly two dozen shows at major arenas across the country, beginning with a stand at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sept. 15 and continuing through a two-night finale at Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome on Oct. 30 and 31. She’ll feature support from Alex G on all her North American dates, then tap former Black Country, New Roads vocalist and guitarist Issac Wood for a monthlong European follow-up in November and December.
At Thursday’s show, Bridgers performed eight new songs, one of which was staged for the first time and all of which will presumably appear on her long-awaited follow-up to 2020’s Punisher. She emerged to the packed house with a solo number, then welcomed backing from longtime songwriting collaborator Christian Lee Hutson on guitar and Nick White on keyboards.
Ticket registration for Bridgers’ Lost Tour is open now, and fans who sign up by the end of June 7 will be eligible for the first pre-sale on June 9, while those who join after will be considered for another on June 10. A general on-sale will follow on June 12 at 10 a.m. local time. $1 from each ticket will be donated to RAINN. Find the registration and more information here.
