Phoebe Bridgers, maker of mostly sad songs, ended her show Saturday night at the Troubadour with a happy one. It wasn’t one she wrote, but it brought a night of sublime music to the finish line with a smile.
In front of a hometown crowd that packed the room, Bridgers played songs mostly from her 2017 debut “Stranger in the Alps.” She opened with “Smoke Signals,” did two songs (“Steamroller” and “Waiting Room”) solo and engaged the crowd with some humorous anecdotes. She copped to having done a promoter’s pay-to-play at Troubadour way back when, and said she remembered seeing James Blake at the historic venue in the early days. She also acknowledged her mother sitting in the balcony, saying Mom drove her to “more concerts than she actually attended, if that makes sense.” Wink.
Conor Oberst joined Bridgers onstage for “Would You Rather,” and then Noah Gundersen to joined her for a value-added version of “Killer.” Bridgers and Gundersen — who recently toured together — last week released a video collaboration that marries the artists’ respective singles, “Killer” and “The Sound.” Bridgers’ main set also included a Tom Petty cover, “It’ll Will All Work Out,” and she ended it with her own “Scott Street,” joined by Oberst, Lukas Frank and two other friends. The two-song encore ended with Sheryl Crow’s “If It Makes You Happy.”
Lomelda opened the night.
Phoebe Bridgers setlist: Smoke Signals, Funeral, Georgia, Would You Rather, Chelsea, Demi Moore, Killer, Steamroller (solo), Waiting Room (solo), It’ll Will All Work Out (Tom Petty), Motion Sickness, Scott Street. Encore: You Missed My Heart, If It Makes You Happy (Sheryl Crow)