On an unseasonably cold Friday evening in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the BMO Harris Pavilion on June 3, 2022. Current indie superstar Phoebe Bridgers, alongside opener Charlie Hickey, took the stage to soothe us all with her gentle vocals and instrumentals. Bridgers has risen to the top of the indie/alternative charts over the past couple of years as a solo artist, and also as a member of the band Better Oblivion Community Center with Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, and in supergroup Boygenius with indie phenomenons Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker.
Bridgers started off the set with her most popular song, “Motion Sickness”, a nod at a past relationship that continues to make her physically ill in the present day. The song has recently garnered a cult following on the social media platform TikTok, with young adults creating dances to go along with the viral soundbite. You can tell that it is a fan favorite because the second the audience heard the first chord, it went wild. Following “Motion Sickness” was another two of her most popular songs – “Garden Song” and “Kyoto”. The primarily young audience danced along to these as well, pouring their hearts out to the soul-baring lyrics and powerful guitar-based music. Bridgers couldn’t keep the smile off of her face as the sound of the audience singing along got louder, especially during quieter moments, such as the chorus of “Moon Song” (in my opinion, her most vulnerable and gut-wrenching song).
I have had the pleasure of seeing Bridgers two other times prior to this performance, and she has only gotten better every time. Her stage presence was fantastic, cracking jokes with the fans in the crowd, taking fan gifts from the front row, and even placing the infamous Wisconsin Cheesehead hat on at one point. Maxine, her black Pug dog, made an appearance during “Savior Complex”. Bridgers also brought out Charlie Hickey to do some harmonies during the song “Chinese Satellite”, which was hauntingly beautiful.
Overall, her set was timed perfectly and included a nice mixture of songs from her first album Stranger in the Alps, and her most recent/second album, Punisher. Bridgers also played her newest single, “Sidelines”, which was very fun live. She ended the night with a solo rendition of her popular song “Georgia”, a request from a fan in the front row. This was my only critique of the evening – at previous shows, she played her underrated track “Waiting Room”. I was excited to see this track live, but sadly, she switched it up.
Band:
Phoebe Bridgers – Vocals/Guitar
Emily Retsas – Gass
Harrison Whitford – Guitar
Marshall Vore – Drums
JJ Kirkpatrick – Trumpet
Setlist:
1.) Motion Sickness
2.) DVD Menu
3.) Garden Song
4.) Kyoto
5.) Punisher
6.) Halloween
7.) Smoke Signals
8.) Funeral
9.) Chinese Satellite with Charlie Hickey
10.) Moon Song
11.) Scott Street
12.) Savior Complex
13.) ICU
14.) Sidelines
15.) Graceland Too
16.) I Know the End
17.) Georgia
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