Jess Nelson Featured Image By Matt Grubb
This was a show I didn’t know I needed, and I’m still sitting with it. Phoebe Bridgers wasn’t on my must-see list but I requested coverage because my 13-year-old cousin was dying to go and of course we had to make it happen. I only knew Phoebe as “sad girl music,” which isn’t really my typical vibe for a live show. I gravitate towards more high-energy type of music and shows I anticipate will bring that. Boy (pun intended) could I have been more wrong.
It was a phone-free show, and I think that’s a big part of why. Somewhere between the opener and the last song, something in me loosened, and I walked out feeling lighter and more tender than I have in a long time. Not having my phone allowed me to intentionally be there, zoned in on the music and the show, which I think just aided in opening up the emotions that were hiding underneath.
Alex G
Alex G was the perfect soft landing into the night, even though I’d never heard of him. His set had this warm, wistful, almost Irish-folk feel at first, and then it kept shifting. There were moments that leaned electronic, and at one point he sat at the piano with autotune, which I absolutely loved. It felt like being gently taken on a journey, and by the time he finished, I’d slowed down, put away the part of my brain that’s always working, and settled into just being there. He played on the B stage with very low lighting, so it had a campfire feel, though I’d love to see him headline with his own full production. A little long for an opener in my opinion, but still a great vibe setter to get us in the right mood for what was to come.
Phoebe Bridgers
Then Phoebe came out, and the whole room felt like floating through space. There was a dome, an orbital cluster of light above a little rotating B stage, and lasers sweeping over the crowd. My cousin said she felt “very excited but also confused because I didn’t know where to look and where she was coming from because there was so much to look at,” and honestly, same.
At one point, a single beam of light fell on her from the center. She tilted her head back like she was looking up at the sky. The production alone was stunning, but for some reason that moment brought me to tears. It wasn’t a lyric. It was just the image of her standing in all that light, small and open, with the lasers moving through the room, and something in me said oh. My cousin’s favorite moment of the night was that very same one, when, in her words, “all the lights were going and it looked like a disco.” Same moment, completely different reactions.
I think that’s what made me ready for what came next. She started talking about her dad, the cycle of going no contact, missing him and reaching back out, having a boundary crossed and pulling away again, and the grief that threads through all of it. I’ve been no contact with both of my parents for over a year, and I felt every word in my chest. I’m grieving people who are still alive, because the relationship I needed with them never existed, and I know there’s a day coming when it becomes final. It’s complicated and heavy, and I don’t have a tidy way to say it. But hearing someone name it out loud in a room full of people made me feel less alone in it, and it felt like the therapy session I didn’t know I needed.
That’s where the phone-free part really mattered. For once I wasn’t checking the time or thinking about content. I was fully there, with nowhere to hide from the feeling or distracted by what might be waiting for me digitally. And what a gift Phoebe gave us with that. Even the small moments felt bigger without screens. People held up real lighters during one of the slower songs, a throwback to before my concert-going days. Phoebe laughed about it, joking that of course the Colorado crowd would do that. My cousin said it plainly: “without my phone it was a way more memorable experience and more fun.” It was a room full of people embracing each and every note. Every piece of the show. Together.
And then there was the part I’ll hold onto most: I got to feel all of that next to my teenage cousin. I didn’t say much about it in the moment, and I don’t think I had to. In the car on the way home, I asked what her favorite part was, and she said, “Everything,” and that it was one of the best concerts she’d ever been to. Her favorite songs were “Motion Sickness” and “Lost Boys,” because “the performance she has for the songs with the lights and everything were great.” And of the hundreds of concerts and live shows I’ve seen, I’d have to agree with her. I went to the show for her and left with so much more than I could have ever anticipated.
If any information in this coverage is incorrect or needs to be fixed, please email PCD Editor at jessica@postconcertdepression.com. Thank you!
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