'I was blown away' - the fans who heard Phoebe Bridgers' unreleased album in a planetarium
'I was blown away' - the fans who heard Phoebe Bridgers' unreleased album in a planetarium
Jessica Lawrence - BBC News NI Thu, August 13, 2026 at 10:30 AM UTC
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Lost Weekend is Phoebe Bridgers' first solo album in six years
What happens when a Grammy Award-winning artist, one of the most anticipated albums of the year and a planetarium collide?
This week the small city of Armagh found out.
It's been six years since songwriter Phoebe Bridgers last released an album, so the release of Lost Weekend on Friday marks, as The Guardian says, a "long-awaited return".
Since her last record, the critically acclaimed Punisher, she's recorded and toured with Grammy Award-winning supergroup boygenius, as well as navigating grief after the death of her father.
And now, in the days leading up to Lost Weekend's release, she's giving a handful of fans an "immersive" audio-visual experience at planetariums across the world.
Only two venues in the UK - Glasgow and Armagh - were chosen to take part.
The Lost Weekend Planetarium show combines curated, nocturnal scenes by National Geographic night-sky photographer Babak Tafreshi with the 16-track record.
Phones had to be placed in a magnetised pouch throughout the show
The Armagh Planetarium hosted four, sold-out showings on Tuesday, and another four will be held on Thursday.
A phone free event, attendees have to put their devices into a pouch, which can only be opened by a magnet after the event is over.
Critics have described Lost Weekend - as a "daring exploration of love, grief and renewal,"alternately spooky, hilarious, mysterious and sneakily moving and worth the wait as well as "staggering and stirring".
Some lyrics make reference to Bridgers' engagement, and eventual break-up, with Irish actor Paul Mescal, and the record is dedicated to her father, who died a few years ago.
And the verdict?
Sisters Eibhlin and Emma were among the 80-strong crowd in the event's first screening.
The pair had an immediate one-word review: "Amazing."
"Before this, we had only heard one song so the whole rest of it was completely fresh and new and the visuals were amazing," Eiblin said.
Sisters Eibhlin and Emma said the experience was "really cool"
"There were times I thought that the visuals linked really well to the music and the lyrics so it was just a really cool experience," Emma added.
However, time will tell whether it comes up top in their album rankings.
"I think you couldn't rank it after listening to it once, that's too hard. I need to focus harder next time to rank," Eibhlin explained.
Emma added: "I felt like it had a rockier, or even a folk sound to it which I really liked, that it was really cool.
"When it comes out properly then we can dissect the lyrics and see."
Kev travelled from County Meath to go to the event
For fans like Kev, who were lucky enough to be at the event, the album's themes played well into the spatial experience.
"There's something both very human and very spacey about it, so I like that she married the two," he said.
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"It was very calming, very emotive at the right time. There are songs on there that did really blow me away."
Cathleen, who is from Armagh, says it was a cool event to take place in her city
Armagh native and Bridgers fan Cathleen said she was "delighted" to see her hometown on the list of places showcasing the event.
"It's really cool, I don't think a lot of people would associate Armagh with contemporary, modern things, it's quite a historic town.
"So it's nice now we're getting recognised by a younger generation and younger artists."
Speaking before the showing, Cathleen explained why she could relate to most of Bridgers' music.
"Everyone's had those relationships and encounters," she said.
It's a six-hour round trip for Abbie and Scott as they travelled from County Waterford
Also among those who were at Armagh Planetarium were Abbie and Scott, who had made the three-and-a-half hour journey from County Waterford.
"Sure, what else would you be at on a Tuesday night?" joked Scott.
The pair both have tickets to Bridgers sold-out run of shows in Dublin's 3Arena in November, but said the early listening event would be a good "preview".
"I relate to a lot of her songs," Abbie added. "I really like her song writing, and I think she's really cool."
Emma and Tara both agreed that Phoebe Bridgers' lyrics related to their own experiences
Her relatable lyrics also brought friends Tara and Emma to the Planetarium for Tuesday's first showing.
"Her music is really powerful and it really helps connect people together," Tara said.
Emma agreed: "You can really understand the lyrics and it really shows the stages of growing up and life."
Emma, Bec and Arron were excited to hear the new album for the first time
Speaking before the event, friends Emma, Bec and Arron were excited about hearing the long-awaited new songs, and didn't particularly mind that they couldn't have their phones out during the show.
"It's nice just to switch off and you're not going to have someone's camera in your face or a flash going off in a room and ruin it for you," Arron said.
"They were all scrambling at the start saying, 'Don't text me'," Bec joked.
"We've sent all of our SOS messages in case anybody's looking for us," Arron added.
'We're all about the music here'
Heather Alexander from Armagh Planetarium said there was a demand "never seen before" for the show, with phones ringing off the hook in the days before.
But, she added, it was an honour to be hosting it.
"It makes us feel so special because we're looking at all these other venues, like America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and then there's Armagh, Northern Ireland," she said.
Heather Alexander from the Armagh Planetarium wants more artists to do events like this
"It really puts us on the map to show that we are very keen to do collaborations like this, so if there's any other big stars out there that really want to do this type of immersive experience, we're all about it.
"We've just had the Fleadh in Belfast, we've shown that we're all about music and this event is just a little cherry on top for us."
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
