This one was a little different.
Normally, when I head to a concert, there’s a camera bag involved, a photo pit somewhere in the equation, and at least a small amount of pretending I know exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Not this time.
Neither I nor any of the other photographers were approved for photo passes for Phoebe Bridgers at Nationwide Arena. I’ll admit, I was disappointed. But there was a pretty good consolation prize: instead of working the show, I got to bring two of my daughters and one of their friends.
And all three of them are huge Phoebe Bridgers fans.
Suddenly, I wasn’t covering a concert.
I was transporting three people to what apparently ranked somewhere between a religious pilgrimage and the most important night of their lives.
My daughter Bella even hand-painted Phoebe’s album artwork onto her skirt for the occasion. It turned out incredible, and judging by the number of compliments she received throughout the night, plenty of other people agreed.
Of course, attending a concert with teenagers requires considerably more preparation than covering one.
I had to rearrange my day and pick my daughters up from school early because, as I quickly learned, you can’t simply go to a Phoebe Bridgers concert. You have to prepare for it. You have to leave hours early. You have to discuss merchandise strategy. Apparently, there is also a very real possibility that every T-shirt in Columbus will disappear if you aren’t standing in line approximately three business days before the doors open.
So, on our way out of town, I stopped at an ATM so everyone would have cash for merch.
Remember that part. It becomes important later.
Then we hit the road.
Each kid took a turn controlling the music, filling the car with Phoebe Bridgers and opening act Alex G. Somewhere along the way, they also decided that I needed my own custom concert shirt.
Bella drew one of Phoebe’s album covers across the front and added a message that perfectly summarized my role for the evening:
“I drove 2 hours to watch my daughters cry!”
Accurate.
After about an hour of singing, laughing, and preparing me for what I was apparently about to experience, all three of them fell asleep.
So much for conserving my energy.
After a very quick food stop, and I mean quick, because I was repeatedly reminded that we had to get there early, we finally arrived at Nationwide Arena.
And apparently, everyone else in Ohio had received the same instructions.
There were lines to get inside. Lines for the outdoor merchandise stand. Lines to take pictures in front of a digital display. For a moment, I wasn’t sure whether we were attending a concert or waiting for Space Mountain.
Eventually, we made it through security and encountered another surprise: our phones were locked away for the performance.
That’s right.
No phones.
Thousands of young Phoebe Bridgers fans were about to experience an entire concert without Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat or the ability to record 47 seconds of a song they’ll never watch again.
Somehow, civilization survived.
Once inside, we found another merchandise line that appeared to stretch roughly halfway back to Cincinnati. Fortunately, years of attending concerts have taught me one valuable lesson: never assume the first merch table is the only merch table.
We walked around and found another station with virtually no line.
Victory.
Then came the next surprise.
They didn’t take cash.
So out came my card, and somewhere in my wallet sat the money from our completely unnecessary ATM stop, silently mocking me.
Each of the girls picked out an appropriately overpriced souvenir, and we finally made our way to our seats. We weren’t far from the main stage, but even better, we were very close to a second stage positioned out in the arena.
That detail would become much more important later.
Alex G Gets Things Started
When the lights finally went down, Alex G appeared on the smaller stage and the screaming began immediately.
He delivered a strong opening performance and was given a warm reception, but there was absolutely no confusion about who most of the audience had come to see.
When Alex asked the crowd who was ready for Phoebe Bridgers, the response probably registered on equipment at the local airport.
Message received.
After his set, the crew cleared the second stage and the anticipation continued to build. Eventually, the arena went dark again.
Somehow, the screaming got louder.
Then the production revealed itself.
And this is where the night went from a really good concert to something entirely different.
A Production That Became Part of the Performance
A massive dome structure on the main stage began to rise, revealing Phoebe Bridgers and her band underneath, complete with a small string section.
From the opening moments, they sounded phenomenal.
But as impressive as the musicianship was, the visual production surrounding it was unlike anything I had seen at a concert.
And I’ve seen a lot of concerts.
The stage wasn’t simply a place for the band to perform. It was constantly changing, revealing and concealing different elements of the show. The dome itself became part of the storytelling, while a massive curtain behind the stage was transformed into another projection surface.
Then, while the band continued playing on the main stage, Bridgers appeared on the smaller rotating stage near our seats.
Suddenly, an arena-sized production became intimate.
The dome lowered again over the band while Bridgers performed from the second stage, creating a completely different atmosphere without ever breaking the flow of the show. For a few moments, Nationwide Arena felt considerably smaller than it actually was.
When she eventually made her way back to the main stage, the production transformed yet again. The dome lifted, its base turned toward the audience and became another massive screen, working together with the curtain behind the stage to surround the performance with imagery.
It wasn’t technology thrown onto a stage simply because somebody had the budget to do it.
It served the music.
That distinction matters.
Bridgers’ songs can be quiet, deeply personal and emotionally heavy. In a venue the size of Nationwide Arena, that kind of music could easily get swallowed by the room. Instead, the production found ways to make the arena feel intimate when it needed to and enormous when the songs called for something bigger.
The band was exceptional throughout the night. The strings added another emotional layer without overwhelming the songs, and Bridgers remained the center of everything without needing to constantly remind the audience that she was.
She didn’t have to.
They already knew.
Wait… Is That It?
Then came one of the stranger moments of the evening.
The final song ended.
Phoebe walked offstage.
That was it.
No long goodbye. No dramatic speech. No “Thank you, Columbus.”
She just walked off.
People waited.
Then they started leaving.
And they kept leaving.
The break stretched long enough that people genuinely seemed convinced the concert was over.
Then Phoebe came back.
The arena exploded again.
People who had already started making their way toward the exits suddenly came running back toward their seats as Bridgers returned for several more songs.
Eventually, this time, she gave Columbus a proper goodbye.
Apparently, patience really is a virtue.
More Than Another Concert
When it was finally over, we headed out, retrieved our phones and immediately made up for lost time with one final round of selfies before beginning the two-hour drive home.
I’ve spent a lot of years around music.
I’ve worked in studios. I’ve stood behind consoles. I’ve photographed artists from the pit and watched more concerts than I could possibly count.
That can change the way you experience a show. You start noticing lighting cues, stage changes, musicianship, production choices and all the little things happening behind the scenes.
But every once in a while, you get reminded why any of it matters in the first place.
This time, I wasn’t standing in a photo pit watching the first three songs through a camera.
I was sitting next to my daughters.
I got to watch them scream when the lights went down. I got to see Bella walking around in the skirt she had painted herself while strangers stopped to compliment her. I got to watch three kids experience an artist they love on a night they had been looking forward to long before we ever pulled out of the driveway.
And yes, I drove two hours to watch my daughters cry.
Then I drove two hours home.
Worth it.
Phoebe Bridgers delivered an exceptional performance at Nationwide Arena, backed by a tremendous band and one of the most creative concert productions I’ve witnessed. The massive dome, rotating second stage, projection screens and carefully designed visuals weren’t distractions from the music, they helped pull thousands of people deeper into it.
But when I think back on this show, the production probably won’t be the first thing I remember.
It’ll be three exhausted kids asleep in the car after spending the night singing, screaming and watching one of their favorite artists.
Every show has a story.
Sometimes, you’re lucky enough to share it with your kids.