Billie Eilish Syncs Up with San Diego

Bria Higginbotham | Billie Eilish | The Music Box | March 10 | USD Radio

Amidst a sudden, blinding white light, a small 16-year-old blue-silver-haired girl walks onto the stage to no music. The crowd goes wild. The girl smiles and the first notes of “Bellyache,” whose lyrics lend to the name of the “Where’s My Mind” tour, begin and the crowd that previously went wild is now absolutely losing it.

 

The girl, Billie Eilish, starts laughing, jumping, and dancing all over the stage, which she continues to do throughout most of the show.

 

Eilish is wearing a large, oversized white hoodie and sweatpants set with a white beanie all emblazoned with her tilted man logo, accompanied by several gold chains. Her appearance is a deceptive contrast to the powerful yet soft, trance-like vocals she emits.

 

There is something magical about attending a concert where the entire audience knows the words to all the songs. That was the experience at this event. Usually at some point in the middle of the show, the chorus of voices will peter out, but not this night. The crowd knew Every. Single. Word. to Every. Single. Song. Start to finish. Of course, considering Billie Eilish has released one EP, Don’t Smile at Me, with a total of nine tracks and two other singles, it’s easy to see her fans having those same songs on repeat for hours.

 

The show as a whole, despite being sold out like most other dates on the tour, was intimate and connected. During the slower songs, like “Hostage” and “Six Feet Under,” the audience sang softly and swayed. During the faster songs, like “My Boy” and “&burn,” the audience shouted and danced. When she played a slower, new song that had yet to be released, the entire audience was silent. Every time she attempted to speak in between songs, she had to tell the crowd to calm down because they were so excited after hearing their favorites live.

 

The openers, Reo Cragun and DJ Kiero, were able to get the crowd dancing as well, albeit in very short bursts. There were all the usual prompts, “everyone put your lights up,” to some that were a little unique, “hands up if you love your mom,” but they got support however they could. The very front left was supportive and dancing throughout their sets, everyone else saved their energy for the headliner.

 

When Eilish took the stage, to chants of “Billie,” she took up the whole space. A few songs into her set, she introduces her band; drummer, Andrew Marshall, and her best friend/brother, Finneas O’Connell. Unlike many lead performers, she then asks the crowd if it’s cool for her brother to perform a song. The crowd agrees, as if the question was not rhetorical, and is treated to the stylings of O’Connell. His sound is his own with some similarities to Eilish’s, reminiscent of the pair’s many co-produced tracks on her EP. O’Connell, who releases music as FINNEAS, played “New Girl” for the crowd and they were shocked that the background vocalist had real pipes of his own. As for Billie Eilish herself, she stood off to the side dancing and singing along as if she were attending his show instead of headlining her own.

 

Eilish performed without going over the top with lighting and theatrics. She let her voice and personality, which came through not only when she spoke to the fans, but also when she hopped and danced. No choreographed dance routines. No crazy outfit changes, or any at all. The most dramatic part, which was relatively tame, was the stack of money after her encore. Did I mention she made it rain with thousand dollar bills with her face on it? Confetti was left in 2017.

 

If you still have not heard about this amazing singer, now is the time to have a listen. As predicted by several members of the audience before Billie Eilish even set foot on the stage, 2018 is the year she blows.

 

Tickets range from $26-$92 in resale