Over the weekend, Phoebe Bridgers took to Saturday Night Live, where she was the musical guest during the Dan Levy-hosted episode.
The memorable performance saw Bridgers delivering killer renditions of two tracks from her highly acclaimed 2020 album Punisher. Kicking it off with “Kyoto,” Bridgers and her backing band took to the stage in their quintessential skeleton onesies, offering up a fun-loving performance of the upbeat track.
As her second track, Bridgers changed into a gothic dress to perform the epic, sprawling album closer, “I Know The End.” Toward the end of the track, Bridgers referenced Bright Eyes’ performance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, smashing her guitar on a fake monitor as sparks flew across the stage.
Watch Bridgers’ SNL performances in full below.
Bridgers’ guitar smash brought about some controversy online, with some viewers taking to Twitter to criticize the move. Several artists like Jason Isbell, Bright Eyes, and comedian Caleb Hearon all took to defending Bridgers’ decision to smash the guitar. Isbell even called it “a salute to both Rock and fine craftsmanship.”
Check out some of the tweets below.
I told danelectro I was going to do it and they wished me luck and told me they’re hard to break
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) February 7, 2021
Hope you have all had a smashing weekend…?
— Danelectro Official (@DanelectroUSA) February 7, 2021
they made me a fake one to break lol
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) February 7, 2021
if you think I didn’t try and get him to smash his trumpet again…
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) February 7, 2021
gotta give a big shout out to the Nate Walcott Trumpet Smash™ from this one https://t.co/Gz7QSXlgLe
— Bright Eyes (@brighteyesband) February 7, 2021