SHOW REVIEW: boygenius @ The Hollywood Bowl
Phoebe Bridgers of Boygenius
Hordes of boygenius devotees flocked to the Hollywood Bowl this Halloween, occupying its seemingly endless rows with a menagerie of elaborate costumes. The legendary venue was filled to the brim with spiffed-up lyric references, indie-movie characters, and fashionable takes on the expected season classics, who arrived to find a festively decorated Hollywood Bowl complete with a “boogenius” photo-op and exclusive Halloween merchandise.
L.A. traffic is known to get characteristically worse between the hours of about 5 and 7 P.M., but factor in a pilgrimage of boygenius enthusiasts, and you’re set for a grueling hour-and-a-half standstill along the 101. Due to the delay, and much to my dismay, I missed Sloppy Jane. What was once a punk trio with Phoebe Bridgers on bass, I’m sure Sloppy Jane set off the night with their mystically original sound, led by Hayley Dahl’s entrancing vocals.
As I arrived, the crowd buzzed with the peaceful murmurs of mingling attendees, at least until a sudden surge of noise droned through the amphitheater like an air-raid siren. The lights dimmed as a familiar ear-splitting hum tolled through the Bowl. 100 gecs took the stage as the THC Deep Note rang in “Dumbest Girl Alive,” erupting with a magnitude strong enough to wake the dead. With that, Laura Les and Dylan Brady summoned the audience into their one-of-a-kind world of wizard garb and calamitous noise. 100 gecs seem to exist rather comfortably within the realm of the ridiculous. Their music is somehow simultaneously overwhelming and enjoyable, with songs like “Billy Knows Jamie” invoking both a full-body shock response and a sudden need to jump around. Dishing out hits like “Hollywood Baby,” “757,” and “I Got My Tooth Removed,” the dynamic duo wrought an unparalleled performance that left audiences gob-smacked and wanting more.
With the echoes of 100 gecs’ performance still reverberating through the walls, the gathering of faithful fans anxiously awaited the arrival of their musical deities. Answering everyone’s prayers, Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys are Back in Town” sprang from the speakers, beckoning the boys’ arrival. Embodying an image ripped straight from a Catholic fresco, the big-screen camera panned to find the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit huddled around a single microphone off-stage. After an intimately angelic acapella performance of “Without You Without Them,” the boys emerged from a misty fog to the tune of fan-favorite “$20.”
Boygenius readily references their religious background in their music but took these allusions to a whole new level this Halloween. The Hollywood Bowl was adorned with glowing red devil horns, setting the stage for the Holy Trinity, who were accompanied by an ensemble of multi-instrumental Archangels. And with the surprise of a lifetime, grunge messiah Dave Grohl appeared as a satanic nun to guest star on drums during “Satanist.”
The night’s setlist was a reverent rejoicing in familiar melodies, made new by the real-time manifestations of the band’s shared love. Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker have realized a bond so intense and pure that it's magnetizing. Their brotherhood exudes an aura of warmth and affection that’s impossible to escape when you see them live. Ending the night with “Salt in the Wound,” they capped off their beautiful performance with the traditional boygenius wrestling match, which usually results in all three members stacked on the ground planting kisses on each other out of unmitigated joy. Boygenius closed out their tour with a grace more often afforded to the biblical entities they embodied this fateful night, and I’m eager to see where their love takes them next.
- Gia Canto
Photo courtesy of Randall Michelson / Live Nation-Hewitt Silva.