On Tuesday, Phoebe Bridgers was a surprise guest on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show. Her backing band was a group of very skilled kids, nodding to the "Lost Boys" she sang about in her Peter Pan-inspired comeback single. Yesterday, Bridgers returned to Fallon to perform an acoustic version of "Lost Boys," the first single from her forthcoming album Lost Weekend. It may have only been a day, but the chorus's "never grow up" premise no longer seemed to apply to her backing band.
The new performance feels like a direct continuation of the first. Bridgers returned in the same outfit with the same hair and makeup, and recreated all of the band's Tuesday photos for Fallon's Instagram. The stage also echoed the earlier performance, but instead of warm afternoon light illuminating the illustrated forest backdrop, it was bathed in cool twilight tones. A giant crescent moon hung above the band, a subtle reminder that time had quietly moved on.
She was accompanied by three veteran musicians. On her left was folk musician Dan Reeder, who was signed to John Prine's Oh Boy Records and has collaborated with Dijon and Whitmer Thomas.
The more I think about it, maybe Bridgers' backing band aren't the Lost Boys, the ones who never grow up. These two sister performances suggest the opposite: time moves forward, the people around her grow older, but she remains unchanged. Maybe she's the lost boy.
Watch the performance below.
Lost Weekend is out 8/14 on Dead Oceans.
