Brixton Academy was originally a cinema, the Grecian façade over its stage designed to echo the ‘dream palace’ image that venues of the day would strive for. Although it became a music venue in the 80s, that cinematic pedigree feels very appropriate tonight; if you were trying to summarise the epic poetry, the dawdling tragedy, the claw-your-own-face-off angst of Phoebe Bridgers’ discography, then ‘cinematic’ would do pretty nicely.
It’s the first of four nights at the Academy. Outside, the queue wraps its way around the building, over the road, and halfway down the next street - a mass of skeleton hoodies, yassified cowboy hats, fine line tattoos, and even a pair of bedsheet ghosts. Inside, the excitement is even more palpable - especially when Phoebe herself wanders on stage early to announce the support band. Sloppy Jane - signed to Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records label - momentarily had Bridgers as their bass player, until her guitar was stolen and she took it as a sign from the universe to never play again. The set is well received, particularly for their cover of My Chemical Romance’s ‘Cancer’.
When it’s time for Phoebe to reappear, her hold over the swaying crowd is immediate and intense. She launches into ‘Motion Sickness’: sonically it’s one of her more upbeat numbers (it even has a TikTok dance); lyrically, it’s every inch the type of devastating elegy that Bridgers is known for. ‘Moon Song’, another fan favourite, likens her discarded love for someone to the dead bird that a dog brings home, while ‘Kyoto’ - dedicated to all the dads in the room - chronicles Phoebe’s own, rocky relationship with her father. Bridgers’ sophomore record, Punisher, was first heard live in Camden’s Roundhouse at the end of 2019, ahead of the album’s release the following February. It earned her four Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album. Now, it weaves seamlessly between the tracks from her debut - Stranger in the Alps - as well as her latest single, ‘Sidelines’.
Caitlin's own images.
As the set marches on, the crowd remains utterly enthralled: they hang on her every word, singing most of them back to her, and taking particular pleasure in bellowing “fuck the cops” and “I hate your mom” with fervour. Phoebe is beaming. She knows she has the room in her palm, and she’s careful with it. Introducing ‘Funeral’, she stresses the “very temporary feeling of permanence when you feel really bad.” The crowd cheers as she grins. “Believe it or not, I’m actually pretty positive!” she goes on. “I don’t think there’s anything cool about being really mentally unwell.”
As well as being open about mental health, Bridgers has also been vocal about her politics. “I have gone on this rant before,” she says before ‘Chinese Satellite’, “but I had an abortion in October. It’s incredible to be outdone politically by a country with a royal family, [but] democracy in the States is a fucking lie. Our bodily autonomy was taken away, or at least that of marginalised and poor people.” It’s an admission she first made on Twitter in the wake of Roe v Wade being overturned, and tonight the crowd’s response is overwhelming.
Personally and politically frustrated, using wry humour and community to deal with it - Phoebe and her audience aren’t so different. At the closing, gut-punching instrumental on ‘I Know The End’, the show’s visceral catharsis reaches its crescendo, and the effect is jaw-dropping. All that remains is the encore: the acoustic, harrowing ‘Waiting Room’ that ensures not a dry eye is left in Brixton’s old cinema.
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