Will Hermes: New Music + Old Music

Will Hermes: New Music + Old Music

Concerts sans cellphones

If you can't see it on your screen, did it really happen?

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Will Hermes
Jun 17, 2026
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I was at the Phoebe Bridgers cellphone-free pop-up show at Madison Square Garden a couple weeks ago.

It was really beautiful. And it took me back.

Onstage: three lava lamps, an old TV, a Mellotron, a couch, a crocheted throw blanket, a couple of blacklight posters. Bridgers had a couple of acoustic guitars, and two accompanists. Very MTV Unplugged.

Figuring in the killed seats behind the stage, I’m guessing there were approximately 18,000 fans. There were also a few hundred cigarette lighters that folks held aloft, just like the old days, since we’d all agreed to lock our phones in security pouches for the duration of the show. You could not enter the venue without bagging your phone.

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