Welcome home, Billie Eilish. The 20-year-old musician returned to her hometown of Los Angeles for three sold-out shows at the renamed Kia Forum. When I arrived for the first show on April 6th, it was easy to spot who the die-hard fans were. Tents lined up along the arena where fans have been camping for days in advance to get first dibs on the perfect spots to watch the newly minted Oscar winner perform.
Dressed in her signature baggy shirt and shorts ensemble, Eilish emerged from under the stage along with brother FINNEAS on the guitar/keys and Andrew Marshall on drums to the upbeat track “bury a friend.”
Billie Eilish is a jack of all trades. She's a pro at getting the adrenaline pumping while pulling at your heartstrings. The show was filled with seamless musical transitions. It was interesting to see polar opposite songs transition so smoothly, one that stood out was the chaotic "strange addiction" to dreamy and whispery "Idontwannabeyouanymore." There was never a dull moment during her set.
Eilish had a simplistic stage setup and heavily used vibrant visuals and dramatic lighting to create a cinematic ambiance for the audience. Every performance for the night was well thought out and executed. The ones that stood out were "NDA" replicating the car scene from the music video along with disorienting lightning, "Getting Older" which included adorable home videos of her growing up with her family and “All Good Girls Go to Hell” which had a jarring video montage of climate change’s effects on the environment.
Before the performance of “No Time to Die,” a giddy Eilish exclaimed to the crowd "Someone got an Oscar for this song, who was it?" On March 27th, the song was named best original song at the Academy Awards for the latest James Bond film. Her performance of the haunting ballad sent chills through my spine as the screens behind her showed the entire opening sequence of the film.
Eilish is a natural-born performer. At such a young age it's pretty inspiring to see her be so comfortable on the stage in front of thousands of people. She wasn't afraid to jump around and crawl on the floor. Seems like Eilish is also fully aware of her young fan base and takes her act as a role model seriously. Throughout the show, the singer would take breaks to make sure the fans in attendance were doing okay. She also took time to state her two rules for the night: #1 Don’t be an asshole (you aren’t allowed to judge anybody) and #2 have fun bitch (main rule for the night).
For the middle of her set, Eilish sat front and center alongside FINNEAS for a few acoustic renditions including "i love you, “Your Power” and “Male Fantasy." It was very reminiscent of how they create their music, just them together being an unstoppable united force. Eilish finished off the night with fan favorites “Bad Guy” and “Happier Than Ever,” the title of her sophomore album. It’s bittersweet as these three LA shows mark the end of Eilish’s U.S. tour leg, she’s now heading to Europe in June.
For more on Billie Eilish, visit billieeilish.com
Setlist:
- bury a friend
- I Didn't Change My Number
- NDA
- Therefore I Am
- my strange addiction
- Idontwannabeyouanymore
- lovely (Billie Eilish & Khalid cover)
- you should see me in a crown
- Billie Bossa Nova
- GOLDWING
- Halley's Comet
- No Time to Die
- Oxytocin (With Snippet of COPYCAT)
- Ilomilo
- i love you (Acoustic)
- Your Power (Acoustic)
- Male Fantasy
- OverHeated
- Bellyache
- ocean eyes
- Bored
- Getting Older
- Lost Cause
- when the party's over
- all the good girls go to hel
- everything i wanted
- bad guy
- Happier Than Ever
