Phoebe Bridgers’ sold out Lost Tour kicked off on September 14 in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. She played there for two nights to open the tour, with around 34,000 attendees in total. I attended night two.
The entire tour is phone free, meaning Yondr pouches were given to each guest to secure any electronics they had. Phone use areas were provided sporadically around the venue, but were heavily monitored.
The merch lines were incredibly long and ran out of sizes quickly, but I was able to get a shirt with the tour dates on the back. The shirt designs were very intriguing though, and I wish I could’ve gotten every design.
Inside the arena, the stage was split into a main (A) and B stage. The main stage contained a large igloo-like sphere with strobe lights around it, which lifted up and had various images projected onto the inside. The B stage was underneath a spinning orb with strobe lights.
To begin the concert, “The Outside” played with the vocoder (electronic vocal distortion device) intro matched to the lights on the B stage. The igloo then lifted up to reveal Phoebe and her band underneath playing “Motion Sickness.”
Phoebe was playing with my emotions the entire time. She transitioned from her upbeat songs to her soul crushing songs incredibly often; I didn’t know whether to cry or scream lyrics. The official setlist from night two included:
A stage:
The Outside
Motion Sickness
Kill Me
The Governor’s Waltz
Lost Boys
DVD Menu
Garden Song
Moon Song
Liberty Tree
B stage:
Lost Weekend
Funeral
Graceland Too
Haunted
Panorama
Still Standing
As Above
A stage:
Bobby
Sidelines
Waiting Room
I Can’t Wait
Kyoto
I Know the End
B-stage encore:
Lost Weekend (Reprise)
Scott Street
Never Going Back!
One of the coolest and most unique parts of the concert was the instrumental portion of “Lost Weekend.” The light orb over the B stage projected black and white lights that seemed to diffract into red, green and blue at the ends. The closest I can get to describing the feeling was like being inside of a tv when it is static. The whole stadium was blaring instrumental music at the same time, and it was truly one of the coolest things I have ever experienced.
Several songs made me tear up, and during “Still Standing” I was a mess. Phoebe changed the original lyric of “But I didn’t mean it” to “But I didn’t mean it, dad,” and I was sobbing. I also have a very strong connection to “Graceland Too” as it was a song I played when dealing with my mental health journey, so hearing it live felt like a milestone for me.
The “Waiting Room” slot was originally “Georgia” for night one, but was switched for night two. It was unexpected, but Phoebe introduced it by saying “Okay, I’m going to play a song I wrote when I was a teenager now.” The cheers from the crowd heavily contrasted the somber guitar, and shortly everyone was back in their feelings.
After “I Know The End,” Phoebe was gone but the stadium lights were still off, so I knew she was going to do an encore. I was right, and she performed three more songs to actually end the concert.
This concert was the best one I’ve ever been to. If you have the opportunity to go and are a Phoebe Bridgers fan, I highly recommend going. Phoebe really knows how to play with your feelings.
