Phoebe Bridgers Turns Madison Square Garden Into Her Living Room With Intimate, Phone-Free Show Featuring Eight New Songs: Concert Review

“It’s strange not having a mobile device, isn’t it?” Phoebe Bridgers remarked to the roughly 18,000 attendees who had voluntarily surrendered their phones for Thursday night’s intimate acoustic performance at Madison Square Garden. “I love it. I’m grateful you’re allowing this to be an internet-free space.” She added with a wry grin, “And if any of you smuggled an Apple Watch up your rear to record this, please don’t share it online — I’m counting on you.” The guidelines for this concert — the first phone-free arena show we’ve attended, and likely the largest ever — were outlined in a firm announcement on Madison Square Garden’s website when this deeply discounted benefit for the Community Justice Exchange’s Immigration Bond Freedom Fund (which provides bail money for ICE detainees), sponsored by the Tidal streaming service, was revealed on Monday.

“Device Free Show,” the notice read. “Per the artist’s request, no recording devices will be permitted at this event, including but not limited to the items listed below: No cellphones No cameras No tablets No laptops No smart watches No bluetooth enabled headphones Upon arrival, small devices will be secured in Yondr pouches that will be unlocked at the end of the event. Guests will retain possession of their Yondr pouches throughout the evening, and if necessary, may access their devices at designated Yondr unlocking stations in the lobby. We appreciate your cooperation in creating a device-free viewing experience.” Journalists covering the event were informed that pens, pencils, and paper were also prohibited, apparently because inaccurate lyrics and song titles were being circulated online. Comparable rules were in place for the dozen or so shows Bridgers had performed leading up to this one, but those were in club-sized venues in smaller markets like Fargo, North Dakota, and Huntington, West Virginia — and suddenly they were attempting it at Madison Square Garden. Precious or irritating as it might sound — not to mention logistically complex — surprisingly, the venue managed it with remarkable ease. The lines to pouch phones were lengthy but moved smoothly, and the exceptionally polite staff wrote your section, row, and seat numbers on custom tickets before securing your phone (and simply asked if you were carrying any of the other prohibited items). The concert began half an hour later than the advertised 8:30 PM to ensure most of the audience were seated.

As the show commenced, the goal seemed less about preventing early leaks of the many unreleased songs she performed and more about evoking a bygone era that most of the audience had never experienced: a time when an artist could test new material without it reaching millions instantly, and audience members could enjoy a concert without their view blocked by multiple people recording footage they’d likely never watch. (Security personnel used telescope-like devices to scan the crowd for active cellphones throughout the night, and reportedly at least one journalist was briefly removed.) More importantly, that intimacy extended to the performance itself. Bridgers performed on a small circular stage designed to resemble a 1970s living room or rec room. She and guitarist Christian Lee Hutson sat on a couch covered by a tacky patterned knit blanket, with lamps on either side, along with a boxy old TV, black-light posters, a lava lamp, and candles. Live video of the performance (and occasionally the TV) was broadcast onto the scoreboard screen hanging from the arena ceiling, but the image was intentionally grainy, like an old television broadcast. Keyboardist Nick White was the only other musician; the only percussion came from an occasional bass drum that Hutson operated with his foot. The set’s aesthetic was distinctly “Stranger Things,” an impression reinforced when, during the show’s more intense moments, the lamps flickered as if Vecna were approaching. In an unplanned throwback to that earlier era, at one point during a particularly emotional song, about a hundred audience members held up cigarette lighters instead of phones — “That was amazing,” she said.

Bridgers, accompanying herself on a series of acoustic guitars and a Mellotron keyboard placed in front of the couch, opened with four fan favorites from her two solo albums — “Motion Sickness,” “Waiting Room,” “Kyoto,” and “Moon Song” — to an ecstatic but respectful response. But most audience members knew a substantial batch of long-awaited new songs was coming — Bridgers’ first new material since her contributions to the Boygenius album in 2023, and her breakthrough sophomore solo album “Punisher” three years before that — and she did not disappoint. She delivered seven new tracks consecutively, which journalists were asked not to reveal much about (along with a history of fierce online backlash from protective fans who swarmed those posting details). We can say that several songs are very much in line with her previous work, featuring her signature sharp wordplay, melodies, and emotional vulnerability; at least one seemed clearly about a painful breakup. Yet a few explore new territory: She introduced one as “a country song” that saw her adopt the style and cadences of the genre with impressive ease; another featured a menacing and intense finale with her voice soaring to its highest range. She spoke to the audience often, asking if they had “defective parents” and discussed how her late father (with whom she had a troubled relationship) managed to transcend his conservative upbringing. She thanked Tidal for sponsoring the show and “paying artists more than any other platform.” She announced that she’ll be touring this fall — with dates arriving on Friday morning. And although she twice referenced the fact that she was performing in the home of the city’s beloved New York Knicks, an audience member didn’t shout “Let’s go Knicks!” until the end of the show. But most poignantly, she thanked the crowd for supporting the cause that the show benefits: “I fucking hate ICE agents,” she said.

Past setlists on the tour had seven new songs bookended by older ones, but on this night, she added “a song we’ve never played before” to the closing set, adding with a laugh, “So if I mess it up, don’t tell anyone.” We won’t reveal any of the lyrics, but let’s say there were references that made the New York audience cheer. Bridgers closed by thanking the musicians, the sound and lights crew, and her guitar tech — all by name — and encouraged the audience to sing along and get their screaming out on the closing song, “I Know the End,” and of course they obliged. For the finale, she stood up and moved to the front of the stage, banging her head for the evening’s only big rock moment — a smart way to close an otherwise low-key show that demanded a lot of her audience. And for all the clichéd comments one could make about What Really Matters when experiencing art in the Instagram age, it was actually a welcome change to simply enjoy a show without trying to impress the internet. It marks a new peak in a year that has seen artists like Justin Bieber and Olivia Rodrigo play such fan-centric shows that not only phones but journalists aren’t officially allowed, and now that Bridgers has pulled it off at Madison Square Garden, it’s likely to be adopted by many more. Indeed, our only regret after this ambitious concert is that we hadn’t bought stock in Yondr years ago…