“Is at an alien!? Oh it’s just Phoebe Bridgers!”
Pop-up shows have been appearing all across the U.S. as musician Phoebe Bridgers starts to preform and tease new music, including a brand new 3rd studio album. Showing up in locations famously known for UFO sightings and having merchandise with the airborne phenomenon illustrated, many are to believe that her next album will have extraterrestrial themes. Her past albums, “Stranger in the Alps” and “Punisher” are widely enjoyed for their airy vocals and contrasting arrangements.
Bridgers has been sticking to venues with small capacities, such as the Raccoon Motel in Davenport, IA. Though, this has created some issues amongst the fanbase. Due to the small sizes of chosen venues combined with the high demand to see the popular indie folk-rock artist, it creates some complications.
After the first few performances, fans caught on to Bridgers’ travel pattern along with other commonalities between areas. This led to fans travelling to locations hours in advance to line up at the crack of dawn or even in the night, way before fliers announcing the shows were put up. This sparked arguments online, with some TikTok users saying “People lining up at a venue before confirmation, when the venue had another supposed show the same night seems disrespectful to the venue?”, and “This is highkey just unfair to anyone who can’t line up early, people that work during the day or have school.” Complaints of the early queueing started to flood the internet.
On top of that, some decided to start following Phoebe Bridgers tour bus. Those who live in the areas being played found themselves having a smaller chance of seeing Phoebe due to the mass amount of people following her around. Bridgers herself spoke up on the topic, commenting, “These shows are meant for the towns – Don’t get me wrong, I love a pilgrimage, but that’s not what these shows are about.” Though, this didn’t stop the fans from travelling.
Despite the complicated entry admittance process, for fans it was definitely worth the battle. Those lucky enough to receive wristbands for the show got to have an intimate listening experience, hearing new songs along with fan favorites. After the performance, Phoebe herself interacted with fans, signing items and thanking them for coming.
While some weren’t as lucky, they found themselves making new friends. During the midst of trying to figure out where Bridgers was to play next, group chats were made for each location to discuss possibilities and any clues of upcoming performances. This brought fans together as each state had its own separate group chat simply to discuss the artist Phoebe Bridgers.
As this small pop-up tour comes to a close, Phoebe had to go out with a bang, performing at famous venue Madison Square Garden (MSG) June 4th. Unlike the other venues she played recently, MSG has a capacity of 19,500 people. Yet another difference is the price of tickets. For the pop-up shows, a singular ticket cost $50. But, a single ticket for her MSG performance costs only $1. Tickets can be requested at a forum linked on Bridgers official website. And as this tour comes to an end, it will always be remembered by Phoebe’s fanbase as a fun, yet chaotic album promo.