Phoebe Green embarks on her first UK headline tour...
I need to preface this review with a confession: the urge to gatekeep is so real right now. It is downright criminal that Phoebe Green is as underrated as she is. I want to enforce her discography upon everyone I meet, yet at the same time I want to keep the knowledge of her genius all to myself.
Phoebe Green embarks on her first UK headline tour, and I was intrigued to see how the funky indie-pop tracks of latest album Lucky Me translate to the stage, particularly within such an intimate venue like The Bodega.
I must say, when I arrived, I was mildly disappointed with the turnout. With hits such as Easy Peeler and Crying In The Club under her belt, I fully anticipated little room for movement. In my experience, intimate gigs can be a real hit or miss, but the small crowd ended up being a blessing in disguise.
As she prepared for her opening set, Nell Mescal and her band weaved through the audience, armed with equipment. This casual transgression between stage and audience truly set the tone for a relaxed evening. Green herself watched Mescal’s set from the crowd, immersing herself among her fans. It was nothing short of humbling to perceive two friends of whom truly support one-another as musicians.
By the time Green took the stage with graceful nonchalance, she had already established a sense of community throughout the room. She kicked off her set with a hypnotic performance of Lucky Me, a song which perfectly encapsulates the self-exploratory nature of her discography. In doing so, she immediately lays bare the complex contradictions felt internally by young women, especially young queer women.
Renditions of So Grown Up, Make It Easy and Sweat were generously interspersed with audience interactions, with Phoebe admitting that her last appearance at The Bodega was derailed by a very unfortunate kidney infection for bandmate Lucy.
Up next was an excruciatingly tender performance of DieDieDie, bringing the room to a new-found layer of vulnerability. The crowd swayed in response, grateful for her openness, savouring the relatability of it all. Phoebe admitted that she is incapable of keeping her eyes open during the song, an ode to the sometimes uncomfortable, but sobering, authenticity of her music.
Phoebe amped up her small but mighty crowd with back-to-back renditions of Crying in the Club and Easy Peeler. Both artist and crowd surrendered to a kaleidoscope of groovy synth beats and strobe lighting, with one fan showing adoration by throwing an actual easy peeler onstage.
To see Phoebe Green at The Bodega was to witness a process both candid and self-reflective, placed against a backdrop of funky synths and guitar riffs. To be in such close proximity to an artist, close enough to discern the lettering of her famous ‘Lucky Me’ hand tattoo, served as a confrontation of her humanity.
Phoebe’s performance obscured the seemingly rigid boundary between stage and audience, artist and fan. The way she addressed her crowd felt so unfiltered; it truly seemed as if we were being confronted by Phoebe’s authentic self. Over the course of the night, I became subject to an experience which felt painfully relatable, making it a solid contender for one of my favourite gigs this year!
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
