Boygenius played their first concert at Madison Square Garden (MSG) on Oct. 2, and I had the honor of attending the sold-out show. To say it was amazing would be an understatement. I had been listening to their album, the record, and their Extended Playlist (EP), boygenius, continuously for the past couple of weeks, preparing for what I knew would be one of my favorite nights of the year, and they didn’t disappoint.
They had announced this tour in the summer, and I knew it would be a bloodbath to get tickets. My friend, Abby, scored us tickets to see the band, with MUNA as the opener. I haven’t listened to MUNA much, but they were incredible live. MUNA’s lead singer, Katie Gavin, has such a powerful voice, and it made me want to stream their music as part of my daily routine. MSG hadn’t turned on the screens for MUNA, which wasn’t the best move because you couldn’t even see the band. They were dancing, running around the stage, and hyping up the crowd, and the only people who experienced the full effect of their stage presence were those at the front of the pit. Other than that, they were amazing.
Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker have been promoting LGBT+ charities throughout their entire tour. They had Múkaro, a member of the Taino nation, come out before they started their part of the show, to talk to the audience about the territory the band played on that night and to spread awareness on who the land originally belonged to. They had the LGBT+ charities posted up on the screens before they went on stage as well, offering prizes for randomly selected people who donated.
The show itself was incredible. Only within the last year, I got into boygenius, but from the first time I heard them, I fell in love with their music. I felt so lucky to have gotten these tickets, given it was a sold-out show. They played their entire discography, along with songs they each released from their solo albums. The entire arena was so loud, singing, crying, laughing. At one point, Phoebe Bridgers asked the crowd to put their phone away during one of their songs, and I didn’t see a single phone out. The respect the fans have for the band is so incredible to see, considering a lot of fan bases these days don’t have that.
Even from the other side of the arena, I could tell all three members of boygenius were nervous to be playing at Madison Square Garden. When they came out, Lucy visibly shut her eyes to take in everything that was happening. It was all so heartening to see how proud they were of each other. They were just so grateful to be on that stage and they said multiple times how they wouldn’t be without all the people in the audience. The artists all got emotional at points, each of them comforting each other.
Towards the end of the show, the band appeared on the B-stage, which was close to my section on the other side of the floor. They performed all four songs off their new EP, the rest. After singing their last new song, the band went back to the main stage to perform their final songs. During their last song of the evening, MUNA came out on the B stage and played “Salt in the Wound” with boygenius. The members of MUNA were all dressed like Phoebe, Julien, and Lucy, wearing blazers and ties. Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus ended the night by unbuttoning their shirts completely, while Julien shredded the guitar. To say that was an experience would be an understatement because ever since this album came out in March, I felt like I needed to see it performed live. And I feel like it changed my life.