On Saturday night, Phoebe Bridgers made the most of her rock star moment.
In her first Saturday Night Live appearance, Bridgers capped off her two-song performance with an appropriately epic finish. As she and her band barreled through “I Know the End,” off the 2020 album Punisher, the American singer-songwriter smashed the shit out of her guitar.
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In a moment of beautiful chaos, Bridgers confidently joined the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Keith Moon, and Jerry Lee Lewis as she turned her musical outlet into a violent expression of raw emotion. Notably, “I Know the End” is a song about depression, loss, and leaving home. It ends in screams and noise, a dissonant cacaphony of sound that lends itself perfectly to the sparks that flew as Bridgers struck a stage monitor again and again with her axe.
As is so often the case when something happens, the people of Twitter were left with things to say. A lot of it is either general praise for Bridgers’ appearance or good-to-great jokes about the smashed guitar. Bridgers even shared a few of those herself.
I hope phoebe bridgers did a good job on snl I lent her my guitar for it lol
— broti gupta (@BrotiGupta) February 7, 2021
Speaking as somebody that was smashing guitars at the ends of sets literally before PB was even born…it’s really fucking fun and I love that for her.
— vscom-BOO-ter (@vsComputer) February 7, 2021
As is always the case in our modern and fully connected world, there were sticks in the mud, too. People who, for one reason or another felt that Bridgers went too far. Which is of course ridiculous on its face for anyone who has even a passing familiarity with rock history.
But in a happy twist, and since a smashed guitar moment is never not epic, the naysayers simply created fodder for more good jokes.
Phoebe Bridgers, please go ahead and smash all the guitars you want (not that you need anyone’s permission). It’s never not badass and most of us love to see it.