From snogs to nipples, here are our favourite moments from the iconic trio’s recent European leg
BY PHOEBE IRIS, IMAGE VIA INSTAGRAM (@XBOYGENIUSX)
This week, as boygenius continue on the UK leg of their European tour with shows in Halifax and Edinburgh, DIVA looks back at the best moments of the tour so far.
All the kissing
Whether it’s Lucy kissing Phoebe, Phoebe kissing Julien, all three kissing each other, or a six-way make-out sesh with MUNA, there sure has been a lot of smooching. As ‘munagenius’ kissing edits infiltrate fans’ TikTok For You pages, we’re sure to see plenty more snogging as the tour progresses.
Nipplegenius
The term “nipplegenius” was coined by fans to refer to a moment from boygenius’s performance at Pukkelpop festival, in Belgium in August 2023. During their final song, ‘Salt In The Wound’, Phoebe and Lucy ripped open their shirts to reveal their breasts to the crowd. Fans were delighted, as one Twitter user put it, ‘It’s a good night to be gay!’
“That’s kinda gay”
An interaction between Lucy Dacus and a fan went viral after Lucy couldn’t stop laughing at the fan’s sign which read “That’s kinda gay”. Wiping away tears of laughter, she joked “I get that most of the lyrics are kinda gay”, going on to ask the crowd “While we’re at it, who’s gay?” Which was met with massive applause.
Silk Chiffon
The indie-pop trio, MUNA, have performed with boygenius on a number of occasions, as well as releasing the song ‘Silk Chiffon’ with Phoebe Bridgers in 2022. Phoebe and the rest of boygenius often join MUNA on stage to perform ‘Silk Chiffon’, but at the Cologne show last week fans were treated to Julien Baker singing what is normally Phoebe’s verse (and in a sparkly crop top to boot).
Phoebe’s birthday
At their Belgium gig, the band took a moment to celebrate Phoebe’s birthday, with MUNA bringing a cake and flowers to the stage. The sweet moment quickly became chaotic when Julien smashed the cake into Phoebe’s face before Phoebe and Lucy began gleefully throwing bits of cake out into the crowd.
C**tcussion
Back in June, Lucy Dacus suffered a concussion and had to perform a few shows sitting down, explaining to the audience that “The doctor said I could do the show, but I’m just gonna be chilling very hard.”
During their Nashville show, which they performed in drag to protest anti-drag legislation in Tennessee, Lucy proclaimed that she was “serving c**ntcussion today.”
Fans have called the moment ‘iconic’, with one writing “She’s allergic to not serving”.
Free bleeding
Another chaotic boygenius moment happened in San Francisco when Phoebe wished the crowd a “happy full moon” before asking “Is anybody else free bleeding right now?”
It’s not the first time Phoebe’s promoted free bleeding, having spoken about it at solo gigs in 2022. And as one fan tweeted, ‘no one other than phoebe bridgers would share that they’re free bleeding to an amphitheatre of people’.
Zoomies
Standing at just five-feet tall, “the little boygenius” aka Julien, is often dwarfed by Phoebe (5’5) and Lucy (5’10). At shows, she can be seen ‘getting the zoomies’, sprinting around the stage and jumping into her bandmate’s arms. This has led to fans posting about their ‘boygenius zoomies’ to express their excitement about the band.
Phoebe’s papercut
At their Gunnersbury Park gig last Sunday, Phoebe opened the set by revealing to the crowd that she had a papercut on her index finger, saying “So it’s actually really brave of me to be playing right now.”
Fans agreed she was indeed very brave, with one Twitter user calling her ‘my hero’.
The scream
At the Gunnersbury Park gig, London-based producer Catherine Marks, who worked on The Record, took to the stage during ‘$20’ to perform the song’s iconic scream live. Marks does not tour with the band but was invited to perform as a one-off in her home city. Some fans were initially unsure of who she was (‘someone screaming?’) but the band promptly explained her role in The Record to loud cheers from the crowd.
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