Phoebe Bridgers At DIY Magazine Instagram Live Stream To Benefit Project Bail, Thursday, June 4th, 2020, Reviewed

It took me fifteen minutes to find the 30 minute fundraiser, it was somewhere on Instagram. By the time I got there I was left with only two songs, a terrific new one off Phoebe Bridgers’s sophomore album, Punisher, arriving June 19th, and her best song “Motion Sickness,” about her relationship with Ryan Adams.

I am not a big fan of Phoebe though I like her more now than I used to. Mostly because I admire “Garden Song” enough to make me wonder if I am just being mean.

What happened, and I hope Phoebe won’t mind me revealing this, is

1 – For the most part Stranger In The Alps bored me… it wasn’t bad but it was all so LA tasteful and self-important all so Jackson Browne and Laurel Canyon lives blahdom, all Elliott Smith died for somebodies sins but I don’t give a shit…

2 – After reading how she was “super down” to nail Ryan Adams, I found her turning on him entirely disgraceful.

3 – I went to see boygenuis at Brooklyn Steel a coupla years ago (here) and Phoebe was the weak link in the supergroup, Julien Baker was a vastly better singer and Lucy far more fun.

4 – Then I didn’t like her Conor Oberst band Better Oblivion Community Center, I was in the UK when they performed at Bowery Ballroom and perhaps if I’d seen them I’d have changed my mind.

5 – And she was meant to open for The 1975 at MSG last week and we all know how that worked out.

So, like I said, I have problems and like I said  I arrived late and missed ” Scott Street” which she followed with new song but already released “Kyoto,” then oldie, “Would You Rather,” the penultimate,  yet to see the light of day (and real good) “Chinese Satellite,” and finally her greatest moment (maybe second greatest, that “Garden Song” really blew me away) “Motion Sickness”.

As the picture illustrates, the camera in her bedroom was placed vertically, and her bedroom seemed to feature a brass bed and absolutely featured a poster of Nick Cave on the wall. It is a light, airy bedroom and yes, that’s how well I know her, I can discuss her personal living quarters with impunity… As she rounded up the proceedings Phoebe shouted out DIY Magazine (apparently she is on the cover of their current issue)  and also Donald Trump while noting Trump has done a lot to help bail reform. Ballsy stuff, of course. Trump is a loathsome piece of flotsam and he does so little that isn’t illegal and immoral it would be much easier to simply not mention him. Me, I think Trump might have been playable at some point in his Presidency, if you sucked up to him enough he’d help you out. We couldn’t bring ourselves to do it. But Phoebe had the bottle to give credit where due.

As for Phoebe, maybe if we suck up to her as well she will give a little more, what’s that word?, energy to the proceedings. Meanwhile, they raised over $4,000 for bail reform…

Grade: B