Phoebe Bridgers, Live In Concert: Newport Folk 2018

A few songs into her sun-drenched Saturday Newport Folk set, Phoebe Bridgers paused and proclaimed, "I am a puddle of sweat." It was a one-liner that primed those huddled at the Harbor Stage for the 2018 Slingshot artist's catalog: details delivered with specificity and a subtle sense of humor.

Even Bridgers' stage banter reflected her striking style, mixing straightforward address and astute observation. "This song is about how every time I smoke weed, I remember why I don't smoke weed," she said of the plainspoken plea "Demi Moore." Later, she called "Steamroller," a devastatingly candid cut from her 2015 EP, Killer, "another dark love song," and referred to the defiant "Motion Sickness" as her "only angry song." Despite its venom, it's a song that unspools with a sonic ease that feel refreshing, even for an overheated festival audience.

SET LIST:

• Smoke Signals
• Funeral
• Georgia
• Demi Moore
• Killer
• Steamroller
• Everything Is Free (Gillian Welch)
• Untitled (Christian Lee Hutson)
• Motion Sickness
• Scott Street

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