Phoebe Bridgers @ Xfinity Mobile Arena

In today’s overly-digitized world, a major singer-songwriter banning cellphones at their headlining arena tour after a 6-year hiatus seems absurd. Right?

Well, Phoebe Bridgers did just that during her show at Xfinity Mobile Arena on September 28, 2026. 

The Lost Tour made waves online after its announcement for this controversial rule. Upon entry to the arena, fans’ cellphones, cameras, smartwatches, and other electronic devices were placed into locked Yondr pouches. These pouches allow fans to keep their devices on their persons, but are locked when outside designated use areas. Bridgers decided on this rule after excessive amounts of recording and poor audience etiquette during her previous solo tour and the tour she embarked on with boygenius in 2023.

Getting into the arena was the most excruciating part of the night. The Yondr pouches made it so the line at the Broad Street entrance went all the way down and looped back up the parking lot. Luckily, an angel of a parking attendant let us know that the East Food Hall side entrance had little to no line and we were able to get in quickly over there. Pro tip for anyone going to Xfinity Mobile: use this entrance. It’s so much easier.

Alex G opened for the show. He played for almost an hour and 15 minutes, but with all the people milling around the concourse, it seemed like more people were outside than inside watching him play. We didn’t see much of his set, as we were trapped in the merch line for most of it, but what we did catch was amazing. Of course, as a Philly-area native, Alex G ended his set with a “Go birds.” 

Phoebe started her set approximately 20 minutes after Alex G. She opened her set with “The Outside” playing over a light show from a big disco ball hanging over the B-stage. On the main stage, a giant dome lifted up revealing Phoebe and her band, lighting up the arena with “Motion Sickness.” The dome then tilted up to reveal a screen where a live feed of Phoebe and accompanying visuals were displayed. 

After “Motion Sickness,” she played “Kill Me,” “The Governor’s Waltz,” “Lost Boys,” “Garden Song,” “Moon Song,” and “Liberty Tree,” before the dome lowered back down and covered the stage. An instrumental version of “Panorama” played as the disco ball lowered over the B-stage. 

Phoebe emerged from backstage and walked past fans at the barricades as she made her way to the B-stage. She immediately got to work, sitting down on the floor of the stage in front of a Mellotron to play the title track from her latest album, Lost Weekend. It was accompanied by lasers from the disco ball, and when the beat dropped, the lasers went crazy. It felt like something out of a movie with the way everyone reacted at the same time, gasping and cheering and dancing. The lasers imbued the song with magic and made it a standout moment of the show. 

She then continued with a more acoustic-heavy part of the show, accompanied by a band consisting only of a fiddle, bass, and cello. Playing “Funeral,” “Graceland Too,” and “Haunted,” Phoebe turned the arena into one big singalong. 

She brought the mood back down by bringing the lights up and talking to the audience before her next song. She asked the crowd if anyone brought their dad to the show and was met with loud cheers. Then she asked the dads to just cheer, which was met with a surprisingly loud response. Phoebe then spoke about the passing of her own father and how it impacted her and her music. This moment was the quietest I have ever heard a concert be. It was so quiet we could clearly hear the air conditioner running up above. 

The quiet continued into the next song, “Still Standing,” as Phoebe was covered in a tractor beam light and smoke. The song finished to silence and delayed cheers as everyone took in the lyrics and emotions of the moment. She then ended the B-stage portion performing “As Above” while glitter confetti rained down on her and the pit. 

Phoebe returned to the main stage to an explosive rendition of “Bobby,” followed by bringing out Alex G and his band to play a song of his also called “Bobby.” Both songs brought the crowd’s energy back up after the slower acoustic set.

Phoebe then closed out the show with fan-favorite “Waiting Room” as the surprise song, “I Can’t Wait” featuring her brother Jackson Bridgers, “On Video” which she wrote for the 2026 film Primetime, “Kyoto,” and finally “I Know The End.” I’m pretty sure “I Know The End” is the song that made me wake up the next morning with no voice and a sore throat. 

When the lights didn’t come back on after “I Know The End,” we knew it wasn’t over. Eventually, Phoebe came back out to the B-stage dressed in all white and sat down on the rotating stage under blacklights, making her glow like bioluminescence. She played “Lost Weekend (Reprise)” the same way she played its sister song, on the floor with a Mellotron, it also glowing from the lights. 

Phoebe finally closed out the show with “Scott Street” and all the lights in the arena on so she could see the audience sing back to her. This was one of the main moments during the show that I felt the phone policy was truly what made the concert so special. If there were no Yondr pouches, probably more than half the crowd would’ve been standing still, recording on their phones instead of singing or dancing. 

We left the arena to “Never Going Back!” playing over the speakers. The Lost Tour is one of the best concerts I have ever been to and I think more artists should consider banning phones at their shows. Even if you have no videos from the night, it makes you more engaged and able to connect with the music and people around you better. Not seeing a sea of phones in front of me was so refreshing.

Phoebe Bridgers truly is one of the greatest artists of our generation and I am very, very excited to see what she comes up with next. 

Phoebe Bridgers will continue on the U.S. leg of The Lost Tour until November 1st in Inglewood, California. Her music is available to stream on all platforms.

Cover photo courtesy of Wes Ellis.