Was also there last night and really enjoyed it. Venue brilliant so long as it stays dry for you! As I’ve read about in other places though, quite a few stoppages mid-song due to problems with people in the crowd near the front. Great that they’re looking out for people and obviously important to do so, but does kill the momentum a bit. Guess it just comes with the territory of so many camping out overnight and all day to get by the front barrier. Hopefully everyone was alright afterwards.
Happened at our date a few times too, the camping gets a bit insane, it was really, really hot that day. I went out to grab dinner and meet friends, got back around when the venue opened to stand in a huge line (then got mad I had to go back stand in a different line because of a small totebag I wanted to have with me, but couldn't hahh); still stood pretty close to the barrier (my friends even leaned on the barrier still, but further to the side)
As a fan of the band and all of the artists involved - but also from the perspective of being an middle aged, white, straight man - it absolutely blows my mind the huge fandom and devotion the band seemed to have gained in such a small space of time (and with such a small discography) I've never been to a show before with multiple stoppages for medical episodes before (including seeing artists such as Taylor Swift, Springsteen, Metallica etc) Is there a particular reason why Boygenius seem to have just exploded in the collective consciousness of the younger demographic? Are they massive on Tiktok or something i've missed? Genuinely interested and not a slight on either the band or the fanbase
All of the artists blew up over the. Pandemic. Phoebe obviously blew up the most, but Lucy and Julien both blew up quite a bit too. All three played their biggest shows ever when they started up touring again. Add to the fact that a lot of the newer fans never got to see the first boygenius tour, a Taylor Swift shoutout and appearances on The Eras Tour, and you have the perfect mix for a band to become really popular.
I'm so happy to see them (especially Julien) reach this insane level of popularity and success. But yeah it does kinda blow my mind how quickly it feels like it happened. They just sold out a 14,000 seat outdoor venue here in NYC in June, the same venue that Fall Out Boy w/Bring Me the Horizon couldn't sell out. And now just 4 months after that show they're coming back for a sold out Madison Square Garden show (and part of me feels like a second night could get added). And that obviously includes sold out massive venues across the country, including the Hollywood Bowl. AND that footage from their festival set in Belgium looked like a massive, headliner level crowd. Crazy that their popularity crosses the Atlantic ocean. All of that without a radio hit, and with less Spotify monthly listeners than smaller bands like Yellowcard. Just goes to show I have no idea how to gauge what's popular with the masses anymore lol
I think a lot of these kids are desperate to get as close to the front of the crowd as possible so they can get good videos for Tik Tok and/or get acknowledged by the artist somehow, with a sign or a gift or something, which is also why I think people have been throwing things on stage. These kids are young, inexperienced concert goers who aren’t used to a packed crowd, are camping out and aren’t hydrating properly (so they don’t lose their spot) which leads to the passing out. That’s my theory at least. (I also realize this sounds very “get off my lawn” so I do want to say that none of this means they aren’t legitimate fans or that they just want clout)
I once fainted after a taking back Sunday show because I had a fever and didn't wanna miss them and didn't drink any water. Also did the same thing at an Academy Is show with a ridiculously long lineup and i passed out before they even played their set. Was sick then too and didnt hydrate cause i wanted my spot at the barrier. I didnt live in a big city so shows were epic and special and i didnt want to miss out on the few i could go to cause we had to drive 3 hours to get there. Youths are dumb and will stay youthing and fainting at shows. Signed, a former dumb youth and current dumb adult.
Legitimate question, but could this become the main project for them now? They’re definitely selling our way bigger venues together than they can by themselves.
I'd personally want to see them continuing the pattern of doing a solo album each and then doing a collab and so on. that way, not only do we get more solo projects, but their solo tours will have cool openers riding their popularity wave
I think part of the magic of boygenius is that we never really knew if or when they would ever reunite again. They should go back and forth between solo/other projects and boygenius every few years.
There was one time I held the barrier throughout a couple sets when I was 17 and visited Berlin for the first time (so there was hours and hours of activities) and almost fainted at the beginning of the final act - and it was Taking Back Sunday as well hahh
I love that for Billie, although I do wonder how many people in the crowd were like "who are these three randos"
i'm very out of touch with the younger generations but i feel like they would have an enormous crossover fan-wise?
They absolutely would, Phoebe came out last year during Billie’s Forum shows to sing Motion Sickness and it sounded like everyone knew who she was there.
Yeah, Billie has like 60 million more listeners just on Spotify. There's cross over for fans of boygenius, but not as much the otherway around. I actually just started listening to Billie recently, she's not too bad.