Phoebe Bridgers, the 27-year-old pop star with a haunting edge, was born in Pasadena, California, spending most of her childhood in L.A. Performing around California since the age of 11, the burn of her lyrics paired with airy vocals, quickly caught fire in 2015. With her release of two albums, most recently Punisher, a combination of EPs, and well-known collaborations and covers, Bridgers was soon floating above to the skies of fame and adoration.
The Reunion Tour, began in North America in May, sweeping the nation into a nostalgic summer. With her slow crawl to the East coast and then back to the West, fans from all around the nation raced to experience the feeling of hearing her lyrics live.
“You are sick, and you’re married, and you might be dying”
The production of the tour transports the audience into her kaleidoscope storybook. The visuals on the screen display a neon glowing storybook, opening to a new page for each song. The hues of the colors: orange, blue and purple, blend with effects of the costumes: skeleton figures, doll-like dresses, and bedazzled suits. The haunting appeal of the tour compliments Bridgers’ songwriting, persona, and open relationship with sadness.
On June 20th, The Reunion Tour moved to the UK and Europe, with a total of 29 shows. All five shows in London quickly sold out, including the night in Hyde Park featuring The Rolling Stones. With the success of her North American tour, the hype for continuation has not slowed, as fans are thrilled to see her dreamland across the water.
Bridgers’ success on The Reunion Tour connects her to the deeply rooted relationship and openness she cultivated with fans. Through her songwriting, Bridgers’ fans find the frightening truth to be comforting. Her lyrics often bridge her to fans’ lives through relatability and storytelling. On Instagram, her profile is a solemn picture of her face, tear-streaked with mascara, creating a space in which elements of sadness become her safe haven. Bridgers’ songs evoke tears in her audience from past ghosts and skeletons in the closet, not to be disregarded or pushed away, but acknowledged with support. The Reunion Tour has become a phenomenon already as Bridgers gives sadness permission to penetrate the barrier between her and her audience, and calls it her friend.
Even further, fans have become enthralled with her personal life, as Bridgers opens up the curtain into her romantic journey. With her recent engagement to Paul Mescal, an Irish actor most famously starring in Normal People, her fans exploded with happiness for her. More so, the fans felt a sense of hope in their own love lives.
phoebe bridgers getting engaged should be groundbreaking for all depressed music lovers, if you can write an album like punisher and still find love, there truly is hope for everyone
— Ben (@BenAHenderson) April 30, 2022
At her recent concert in Brooklyn, she even brought out fiancée, Paul, and her beloved pug, Maxine, giving them both a quick peck that melted her fans before returning to her regularly scheduled program.
As The Reunion Tour continues to take off, Bridgers is still writing and keeping fans on their feet. With the recent release of a new song, “Sidelines” in collaboration with Marshall Vore and Ruby Rain Henley, more music may come this year. Bridgers is ready to be the unexpected, but what we can expect from her is a storytelling, heart-capturing music career that has just begun to reveal itself like a torn veil.
