If you are sad, gay and/or in love with your friends, boygenius probably needs no introduction. If you’re none of those things, you should still probably know about this band. They are six-time Grammy nominated after all. Though it took until 2023 for the Recording Academy to recognize the power of these musicians, the band’s three members have built very dedicated — bordering on parasocial — fan bases. Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers have individually been decorating the Billboard Top 20 over the past few years, but scored their first No. 1 hit with “Not Strong Enough” in May of this year. “The boys,” as they like to be referred to, performed the last show of their seven month international tour at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Halloween. They headlined the bill with openers hyperpop duo 100 gecs and Sloppy Jane, Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records’ own.
The tour was in promotion of boygenius’ album “the record” and their most recent EP, “the rest,” with the band playing every song that they’ve ever released as a group. At most shows, fans also got to see boygenius perform one song from Bridger’s “Punisher,” Dacus’ “Home Video” and Baker’s “Little Oblivions,” their most recent solo albums. These songs, “Graceland Too,” “Please Stay” and “Favor” are something fans call the “holy trinity” of boygenius’ solo songs. Though these three songs were released under only one of the boys’ names, all feature supporting vocals from the group, and are written about each other. I expected to hear the holy trinity, but the band had a different religious experience up their sleeves for the Bowl.
The band encouraged fans to dress up for boogenius, and dress up we did. I saw a tooth fairy (reference to “Bite the Hand” and boygenius’ matching tooth tattoos), some cowboys with the neck tattoos and even “that one Julien picture” as pointed out by Phoebe Bridgers. boygenius took no shortcut in planning their own outfits. After the abrupt end of Liz Phair’s “the Boys are Back in Town,” the band’s call to stage, the three of them suddenly appear on the big screen. They perform their tender opening song, “Without You Without Them” from behind the stage each show. Fans have waited with baited breath to see what the band’s costumes will be, and they do not disappoint. Julien Baker is Jesus, Lucy Dacus is God, Phoebe Bridgers is the holy Spirit and (most adorably) Maxine Bridgers is the lamb of God. As someone who has Dacus’ words “never a god” tattooed, I think Lucy may need to apologize to me for being an absolute liar. She is indeed a God. The 17,500 fans in attendance attempted in vain to pick their jaws up off the floor; the juxtaposition between the ethereal costuming, electric guitars and Dave Grohl banging out “Satanist” on drums created a show that no one could recover from.
You think only Lucy, Julien and Phoebe dressed up? Fret not, for their band too was dressed in angelic white costumes. Tiana O’Hara, Melina Duterte, Sarah Goldstone and Madden Klass have been on tour with boygenius for the entire seven month stretch. They are each stand-out musicians, some of whom just released killer new music, and together form a tight band that exceeds all expectations. Your homework tonight is to go home and watch this band play. May I suggest their SNL performance?
While I would never call the Bowl an intimate venue, boygenius managed to make the historic night special for everyone in attendance. To play the four songs off of their most recent EP, “the rest,” boygenius hightailed it up to a B-stage in the upper half of the amphitheater. While Phoebe has a habit of walking through the crowd (I’m not linking a video because this is the one song that she asks not to be filmed, but iykyk), Julien spends most of her time within cable-distance of her guitar amp; it’s rare for the upper crowd to see all three of them up close. This night was not only special for fans, but for the band too, with the boys shouting out their moms in the audience.
Though the Bowl’s audience got a holy trinity in the form of costumes, boygenius surprised fans on the last night of the tour by switching out the usual three solo songs. Lucy covered Julien’s “Good News,” Julien played Phoebe’s “Motion Sickness” and Phoebe sang Lucy’s “Night Shift.” A bit of me wishes they would have played Bridger’s “Halloween” as a nod to the day, but Baker did great justice to “Motion Sickness,” so I’ll let that one slide. To top off the insanity of getting three new covers, the boys wore each others’ original 2018 “boygenius” EP era patchwork jackets. Such a full circle moment for a band that exists again not by requirement or happenstance but by intentional, caring choice!
I don’t think any other band could have put on such a rocking Halloween show. Enjoy the time off of tour, boys. We can’t wait to see what you accomplish next. Maybe six grammy wins? If you’re feeling the post-concert depression, feel free to stare at these photos of boogenius from Phoebe’s side of stage for the next few months. That’s what I’ll be doing!