Boygenius fans at Taylor Swift’s show in Nashville Friday were treated to quite a surprise. As Phoebe Bridgers performed her first opening night for the Eras Tour show, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus joined the musician onstage for an impromptu performance of “Not Strong Enough.”
Bridgers also sang “Graceland Too” with just Baker, and wrapped up her set with the entire group for “I Know The End.”
There were more surprises in store as Bridgers later appeared onstage during Swift’s set to perform their Red (Taylor’s Version) collaboration “Nothing New” for the first time together:
During Friday’s show, Swift also revealed the release date of her next re-recorded album. In a follow-up tweet, the singer wrote, “With six extra songs I’ve sprung loose from the vault, I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) with you on July 7th.”
Swift has been a fan of both Bridgers and boygenius for a while. After the group’s album drop, she shared a shoutout on Instagram Stories, calling the record “genuinely a masterpiece.”
“Just a friendly tip to make your life better!” she wrote.
And back in March, Bridgers presented Swift with the 2023 Innovator Award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, and spoke about the impact that Swift has had on her own career as a singer-songwriter.
“As I grew up, so did Taylor, and so did her songs. Gradually, my songs started to suck less because instead of trying to sound interesting, I just started telling the truth. Taylor has always told the truth. She’s written songs from exactly where she is. Her music shifted genre in the same way life does — in the same way being 16 is totally incomparable to being 18, 22, 25, 28. I’m grateful to have grown up in a world with Taylor Swift in it, or, ‘The World: Taylor’s Version.’”
Bridgers is opening for Swift during a stretch of shows on the Eras Tour, starting May 5 in Nashville and ending May 28 in East Rutherford, New Jersey (outside New York City). The trio will tour the country this summer, with some dates coming as part of the Re:SET concert series
“I take inspiration from the people I see who are happy, and I’m still trying to [be],” Bridgers told Rolling Stone about Swift in a cover story interview earlier this year. “She’s such a deep, wise human being, and has not sacrificed fun at all. She validates those boundaries that people have tried to take from her for her whole life.”
Back in 2021, Swift also tapped Bridgers to contribute to “Nothing New” a vault track from Red (Taylor’s Version).