Since my August post about Phoebe’s new opus, I’ve slightly chilled out. I no longer am hitting ~30 bobby plays per week. Lately, it’s probably been about half that. This is mostly a reflection of the fact that there is a lot to listen to, and I have a busy job that doesn’t allow me to listen to music all day. But to be clear, I was counting the days until Lost Weekend live.
As spectacular and special as Phoebe’s MSG show was (see previous post), I did not come away convinced that she’s an artist that can really make a stadium show work. I mean, stadium shows suck and are overpriced and weird. Of course, some people pull it off and harness the power that can be derived from having a large audience. Some awesome stadium shows I’ve been to: Paul McCartney (not even close to my favorite Beatles song, but words can’t describe being in a huge crowd singing Hey Jude with Sir Paul), The Boss (do I even have to explain), Dead and Co at the Sphere (just sick), Lady Gaga (Bad Romance tour circa 2009, epic). There are plenty of notable mid-size venue and festival performances I’ve seen, of course…But I think there is something particularly difficult about the cold, neoliberal capitalist coded, generic nature of sports stadiums. A large outdoor show perhaps suffers w/r/t sound quality, but you get to be outside. And larger, indoor music venues that are actually designed for concerts tend to sound better than stadiums + have more of a vibe. Phoebe’s MSG show managed to capture a special intimacy, but, because it was an acoustic stadium show, it was really its own beast. And her extended absence + the surprise nature of things added a certain something. It was also a pretty short show.
Pros that have been performing in massive stadiums for decades (the Boss, McCartney etc.) have figured out how to make things work. And it helps that I can only dream about seeing the Beatles in an intimate space. Plus those people have a big sound and insanely huge star power. Capturing the attention of a stadium crowd seems like a huge ask of most artists, though. And Phoebe’s music is intimate and personal. Much of the new album is about losing her dad and coming to terms with their fraught relationship amidst the grief. Plus it’s a dynamic album made special by its quiet moments. Also, I have seen Phoebe in smaller venues.
This is going to sound exceedingly pretentious and annoying (mean?), but the biggest problem with big concerts tends to be the people. Necessarily, such large shows attract a sizable cross-section of the population many of whom are not very regular concert-goers and/or devoted music listeners. It often means dealing with groups of people talking loudly, drinking like they are at a football game, and spending 90% of the show on their phone, brightness at 100. The phone thing is especially hard at shows with a younger crowd (e.g., Phoebe). Basically it’s pretty different from, e.g., the village vanguard where if some poor person even thinks about taking out their phone during the music or talking loudly everyone around them sends death glares.
In truth, I like people (!!) and crowds and am a tolerant concert goer/pretty patient person, but it was an excellent call that Phoebe banned phones. The very sweet crowd of primarily girls between the ages of 15-24, I can only imagine, would have had their phones out for much of the night if not for the strictly enforced ban. I actually spend most of my work week litigating social media addiction claims and thus spend a fair amount of time thinking about kids and phones.
This has been a very rambling post thus far, but I truly do think the no-phones nature of the show was important. Both for our experience and for Phoebe’s – which, obviously, are connected. Sidenote: I saw Bob Dylan at a no-phones show in July, and it felt very different from the prior time I saw him. He seemed much happier and more present + at peace. I think staring at a sea of black boxes sucks for artists. Sidenote #2: I saw Geese last night, and it was excellent but would have been better with no phones. Sidenote #3: I was listening to wait wait don’t tell me yesterday, and the hosts were questioning why we still call them phones which made me laugh. BTW, I like phone bans for myself too.
Maybe I should have expected this based on how good (and likely $$$) the production is on Lost Weekend, but Phoebe made the experience worth it in every way. The lights, visuals, staging, etc. were beautiful and creative.
More on that soon. First, we must discuss Sandy. I love Alex G a lot and feel quite sentimental about much of his music. I have wonderful college memories singing his songs with my pals. (@ Andy, Cassidy, Lily – driving to Boston to collect a free Rhodes for our student-run, free recording studio and starting an Alex G a cappella band / listening to him for 8 hours straight). I also remember the first time I saw him in summer 2017 at the Bowery Ballroom. It was so good! Look at this setlist. I have seen him since in increasingly large venues with increasingly bro-y audiences. I think bros joined around time of god save the animals (not sure the explanation/if there is one).
I still love him and was excited he was opening. I wouldn’t call his set bad, but it was pretty funny. The way his band sounded in Barclays was…remarkable. The vocals were SO loud. The drums sounded fake, and the cymbals were inaudible. Everything bounced off the metal walls and reverberated back, sounding weirdly artificial and canned. That’s not to say I didn’t love it. My friend and I had a lot of fun. Also, he literally roared during runner and animals. I actually went to the show twice, and the second time I was on the floor much closer to the stage which made things a bit more normal in sound and feel (although still weird and also less fun without my friend, also a sandy fan). It sort of felt like a full circle moment. Back in New York, seeing Sandy once again. The nostalgia and changed circumstances made me feel simultaneously young and old.
Phoebe. The show started with the vocoder intro from the outside. The sound emanated from a huge metal ball that dropped from the ceiling. It glowed green, very Gatsby-esque. Naive, gullible me wondered if she was in the ball. My friend (correctly) guessed that she was on the other stage under the big dome ready to rip motion sickness. It was awesome. (Unfairly?) Phoebe and her band sounded much better than Sandy. Not only was the band tight as hell, but the mix was really good and clean. I could hear cymbals! I actually think much of Lost Weekend is well suited sonically to a big venue. There are a lot of cool tones and tons of compression, e.g., the metallic sounding, gated, acoustic guitar on bobby works through massive speakers. And bobby did deliver. It was just perhaps over too soon…Thank god I can run it back again and again via spotify.
The highlights of the show, for me, perhaps were the small stage songs. Phoebe has a really wonderful group of musicians on tour with her playing strings – viola, cello, banjo. Haunted was amazing. I also thought Funeral was the best live performance of that song I have seen, actually. Lost weekend was beautiful (the reprise hurt me, tbh). And still standing was captivating. Truly thank god for no phones. Remarkably, Phoebe was able to access the dynamics of the album. She was able to perform that song so quietly, delicately, intimately, even at Barclays. It was really beautiful and impressive.
Other major highlights: governor’s waltz (the guitar) and everyone yelling the words to moon song (I love it every time, ngl). As above was epic live. Although I will say the live performance of as above at MSG lives rent free in my head. There was something very raw and good about that one. Oh also liberty tree was a real Bop. I liked it all!
Phoebe performed the new song she made for Primetime (Lance Oppenheimer movie). I liked it more live than I do the recording. She introduced her band shortly before going into it, revealing that jay som is in her band! On trumpet and guitar. So cool. Weirdly, the new song reminds me of some of the songs on everybody works (one of my favorite albums of 2017!). Specifically, the title track, the bus song, and lipstick stains.
Boygenius made an appearance which made everyone truly freak the fuck out. It was cute and sweet, and I did have to plug my ears due to the screams. Cool about it was lovely. On Saturday, they played powers which was, tbh, kind of a miss. I truly just can’t believe how famous these people are now. It’s pretty sick for women. Like if boygenius ever tours again I guess they too will be booking multiple nights at huge stadiums. Maybe they can do a residency at the Sphere…!
Phoebe closed it out with a heartbreaking performance of lost weekend reprise, solo, on keys, sitting on the floor of the small stage. And Scott street singalong, tbh, hit. In particular, I loved “what about the band” queuing the drums and band from the big stage. Simply very good.
Thank you, Phoebe. Grateful for it all!
