boygenius Reunited at Phoebe Bridgers’ Barclays Show. Nobody Filmed It.

boygenius played together for the first time in more than two years last Thursday night at Barclays Center. Almost nobody has footage of it, and that was the point.

The first boygenius set since 2024

Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker walked out during Phoebe Bridgers’ set on September 24 and the three of them played two songs, “Not Strong Enough” and “Cool About It,” both from their 2023 album the record.

It was the first time the trio had performed together since Grammy weekend in 2024, per Dork. They hugged, shared a kiss, and left.

Why there is no video

Every date on Bridgers’ Lost Tour is phone-free. Phones, smartwatches and anything else that records go into a locked Yondr pouch on the way in, and you keep the pouch until you leave.

Anyone caught filming is asked to leave the building. So one of the most anticipated reunions in indie rock happened in a room where recording it was grounds for ejection.

“I’m so happy you put your phones away.”

What a phone-free arena actually feels like

We were in the room. Twenty thousand people, and not a single phone light anywhere. Nothing glowing in the whole arena, everyone watching the thing that was actually happening in front of them.

It was freeing, genuinely. You stop reaching for your phone, and after a while you forget you ever had one.

Some people were drawing. Actually drawing the stage and the set, so they would remember what it looked like.

Was it annoying? Sometimes. There was no way to know what time it was all night. We got separated from a friend with no way to find them, which became its own adventure. Worth it.

She has been building toward this

In August, ahead of the release of her third solo album Lost Weekend, Bridgers booked planetariums in 34 cities across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand so fans could hear the record in full under a dome.

Those were phone-free too. Yondr pouches at the door, custom night-sky visuals inside.

She has never really explained why she does it. She just does it.