Phoebe Bridgers at the Union Chapel

Phoebe Bridgers

Union Chapel, 17 August 2026

I was absolutely shocked when I managed to get a ticket to one of Phoebe Bridgers' intimate outstore shows she is playing this week to celebrate the release of her new album, Lost Weekend, which came out last Friday. She is famously "phones-free" for her shows these days, so I didn't get any photos this time but above is the cool t-shirt I got at the show, which was without doubt a magical affair.

I last saw Bridgers live back in 2018 at Islington Assembly Hall, when she was promoting her first album Strangers In The Alps, which was a much more lowkey affair although you could tell she was on her way up. She has absolutely exploded since then: on her last solo tour in 2022 she sold out three nights at Brixton Academy and she's also toured with her band with Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, Better Oblivion Community Center and, of course, Boygenius with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus. 

Even though I think she's incredible, her rise has shocked me because her music never seemed that commercial or mainstream to me but obviously she's hit on something with the younger generations because she has a fanbase who are absolutely obsessed with her in almost a Taylor Swift-esque fervour. I always knew she was going to be big, but indie big, like Cat Power maybe, not selling out two nights at the O2 Arena in ten minutes big, which she managed to do a couple of months ago. 

I can't deal with huge shows anymore, especially in arenas or stadiums, but the opportunity to see Bridgers in the beautiful Union Chapel at an intimate show more befitting of her haunting, quiet and often melancholy music was hugely exciting (maybe her arena shows are something to behold but I just can't imagine it).

Just recently though Bridgers has gone very anti-phone, following the likes of Bob Dylan and Jason Isbell (Jack White used to be but seems to have relaxed that policy in recent years), utilising Yondr pouches at shows, where your phone is locked in a pouch that you keep with you and then unlocked at the end, meaning you can't photograph or video anything. I've only been to a couple of events that used these before: one was the screening for the Omar & Cedric film, because I guess they didn't want any of it to leak (unneeded as no one was bootlegging that film, as much as I love them!), and the aforementioned Jack White, who actually provided photos of every concert that people could use if they wanted to.

None of it prepared me for the military-style operation to make sure we didn't use our phones or any kind of electronic equipment at the Phoebe Bridgers show though.  

When I arrived at the Union Chapel I was hoping to have missed the line for the earlier matinee show (all the outstores she is playing this week have matinee and evening shows), but surprisingly they were only just letting people in an hour later than advertised. I have no idea if this was because of all the security measures, which included locking phones and airpods etc in the Yondr pouches, checking in larger electronics like laptops and iPads and searching everyone with security wands. I mean, I understand Bridgers doesn't want photos or videos but the methods seemed a bit extreme. 

On top of this, when I was in the queue I then received an email saying the doors for the evening show were now half an hour later (fine, as they were obviously running behind) but also telling us not to bring "large electronics" like laptops, headphones (???) and Kindles, for some reason. I did have my Kindle with me, thinking it wouldn't be a problem, but luckily they didn't spot it when searching me and I was able to just go find a seat and not spend ages checking it in. I still don't get it though, there's no way to take a picture or video on a Kindle. Maybe Bridgers was afraid people might read during her concert, I don't know, not likely though!

Once I did get in I when to my usual spot at the front on the left but a lot of the seats had reserved signs on them, so my view was very obstructed. Because I was by myself and the audience was generally so much younger than me (the kid behind me in the queue for instance was just 19 and going to his first show and did not want to talk to an oldie like me!), it was painfully boring waiting for the show to start without my book or my phone and not even knowing the time and it must have shown, because a kind Union Chapel employee asked me if I wanted to move into one of the reserved seats, which of course I did, and suddenly I had a fantastic view (I could have taken such spectacular photos though!).