WME agent Josh Javor has outlined how Phoebe Bridgers’ live career has been built at the right pace ahead of her phone-free arena tour and All Points East (APE) headline bow.
Bridgers, who achieved her first UK No.1 solo album with the critically-acclaimed Lost Weekend in August, is the first headline act to be revealed for APE's 2027 edition. The American singer-songwriter is set to top the bill at London's Victoria Park on Friday, August 27.
First, she will bring her The Lost Tour to Europe later this month for arena dates in the UK and Ireland, including two nights at The O2 on December 1-2, alongside stops in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. Bridgers has also just released a new EP, Live At Madison Square Garden, as a Tidal exclusive.
Javor, partner, head of London Music at WME, has overseen Bridgers’ rise on the touring circuit for a number of years and explained that her pandemic-era ascent meant she skipped several of the usual steps up the venue ladder.
"She was blowing up just before Covid, and then she came out of it at a completely different level," he told Music Week. "Since then, everything's been playing catch up. People say that in London, you play a 1,000 capacity venue, then a 2,000 capacity, then a 5,000 capacity, but she missed those steps during Covid."
An important building block was Bridgers' sold-out four-night residency at London's O2 Academy Brixton in July 2022.
"I think we made the right decision to play Brixton Academy when she was already an arena-level artist," said Javor. "We played four nights at Brixton and it was incredible. Four nights in Brixton is basically an O2 Arena, so she could have sold it out already back in 2022. Where we are now is pretty much where we knew we were back then, it was just about making sure it was done in the right way, so the fans could follow her naturally."
You don’t need to be on your phone, you can just focus solely on the artist
Josh Javor, WME
Javor – whose roster at WME also includes names such as Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Linkin Park and Queens Of The Stone Age, as well as recent addition Robbie Williams – also opened up on Bridgers' decision to implement a no-phone policy across The Lost Tour, which sees audience mobiles locked inside pouches during the shows.
“You hear that and you’re like, ‘Oh, this is going to be a challenge,’" he said. "But, you turn up, they put your phone into this case, you put it in your pocket and you go to the show. If you want to check your phone, there’s someone there who can open it for you. I watched her show at the Union Chapel [in August], and it was nice – you don’t need to be on your phone, you can just focus solely on the artist, and there’s no one holding their phone up, which is basically what happens now at shows.
"When Phoebe did shows in the US before the record came out, she didn’t want people videoing unreleased songs. She was like, ‘No one’s got a phone in my face, I can engage with the audience much better. Let’s just do it.’ Then it expanded into what it is now.”
However, while artists such as Prince, Bob Dylan, Jack White, Ghost and The Lumineers have also embarked on phone-free tours in the past, Javor does not expect the practice to become widespread moving forward.
“I don’t, because it costs money," he said. "Coldplay use wristbands, but so can anyone else. It just costs a lot, and some artists feel like they can’t afford it, or don’t want to spend the money, which is fine.”
Subscribers can read the full interview with Javor, which featured in the November edition of Music Week, here.
PHOTO: Olof Grind
