Teary Eyed with Phoebe Bridgers at the Greek Theater

It’s Saturday the 16th and the line for the Greek theater entrance is miles long. Crowds of fans in Doc Martens stomp down Piedmont and there’s a palpable feeling of excitement and anticipation. The doors open and every corner of the amphitheater quickly fills up with skeleton costumes, as a purple light blankets the venue.

This was the first large show I had been to since I packed my Pandemic carry-on as a second-semester Freshman and now—a year and a half later, a Junior—I stood among thousands of fans, energized by their eagerness to be graced with Phoebe’s presence. Between songs, Bridger’s acknowledges the size of the crowd. “This is the largest show we’ve ever headlined,” she says, pauses a moment to take it in, smiles, and continues: “This rocks.”

Phoebe opened with “Motion Sickness” and the crowd erupted, screaming the lyrics back to the stage. The lights coincided with the essence of each of her songs, painting the crowd in orange, pink, and green. I locked onto JJ Kirkpatrick, Bridger’s fantastic trumpet player who brought so much soul and groove to the music. On the screen above was an image of a pop-up picture book, flipping the pages with each song, and displaying imageries inspired by each tune. During “Garden Song” I immediately recognized the bridge in the picture book as the bridge at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, referenced in a lyric of the song, “See our reflection in the water/Off a bridge at the Huntington/ I hopped the fence when I was 17.” As a Los Angeles native, this brings the already nostalgic feel of Phoebe’s music to a whole other level as I’m transported to being young and naive in the city.

Bridger’s lyricism is one of the most unique aspects of her artistry. This is illuminated even more as fans recite back her stanzas of poetry, little short stories they have memorized, that mean something different in the lives of each person singing them. I look over at the man next to me in the crowd as “Halloween” plays and tears run down his face. He’s not alone, I’m sure a decent-sized pool could be filled by the tears shed by moved fans in the crowd. It’s a special feeling when you can feel the personal importance that songs have on individuals and this concert was such a surreal way to see just that.

Returning back to the stage after the crowd chanted “Phoebe, Phoebe, Phoebe,” she closes with“That Funny Feeling” and with a final wave she runs off and the house lights come back on. Remembering the way that concerts make your feet hurt, the crowd wiped their faces and shuffled out of the Greek into the chill Berkeley night, feeling a bit of that magic as they walk back to their cars.