Boygenius might be on hiatus, but fans of the Phoebe Bridgers Extended Universe got their fill last night when the singer joined Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst onstage at a Los Angeles show, in huge news for tortured bisexuals.
The two artists previously performed and released music together as Better Oblivion Community Center, releasing a self-titled album and embarking on a U.S. and European tour in 2019. In 2020, Oberst made an appearance on Bridgers' album Punisher before the pair briefly reunited for a virtual benefit concert, but they’ve pretty much been doing their own things since then. That is, until last night.
Bridgers appeared during the encore at “Conor Oberst And Friends,” a solo residency currently running at LA’s Teragram Ballroom. (It'll be coming to New York's Bowery Ballroom for a four-night run next month.) He gave her quite the introduction as well, calling her “one of my favorite people on planet Earth.”
“All the way from Pasadangerous, California in the flesh, here she is, Phoebe Bridgers,” Oberst said, referencing the singer’s hometown of Pasadena (which is, to be clear, an LA suburb that is a mere half-hour drive from the Teragram Ballroom). Naturally, the crowd went wild, though they quickly quieted down as Oberst started to strum the intro chords to “Lua,” the heartbreaking acoustic ballad from Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning.
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The duo also performed the Better Oblivion Community Center song “My City,” marking perhaps the first time that the pair have performed a number from their former joint musical project since October 2020.
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Lastly, Bridgers and Oberst ended the show by duetting on the latter’s 2014 solo song, “Double Life.”
When Boygenius announced that they would be putting the group on hold for the “foreseeable future” last month, most assumed that Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker would be focusing on their solo careers. But a Better Oblivion Community Center reunion came out of left field. Sure, the “reunion” was only one night, but who’s to say what could be next now that Bridgers has a lot more free time on her hands?
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