Any artist with over 100 million Instagram followers, critical acclaim, a diehard, obsessed fanbase, and the ability to sell out arenas in minutes, should reasonably come with high expectations for their performance. This is especially true for Billie Eilish, who has spent the last decade catapulting from teen sensation to the upper stratosphere of pop stardom. Eilish has weathered this level of success incredibly well with albums and viral music videos that demonstrate her artistic evolution, extreme creativity and vocal talent, and a public presence that endears her to fans to the point of fanaticism.
Case in point is her 2024 album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, which features some of her strongest, most radio-friendly tracks to date and is the reason for her current tour. It also raises the question of whether an act with such a massive online persona can match it in her performance. Does this level of celebrity, influence, and marketing power render the typical standards for a great concert moot when simply basking in her presence is enough to make most fans giddy? This was a lingering question after Eilish’s current tour – one of the most in-demand and top-dollar tickets of the fall – made its way through Portland, Oregon on Sunday, December 8th, for a very sold-out show at the Moda Center.
As the moody blue light – no doubt to capture the Instagram-ready aesthetic of HIT ME HARD AND SOFT album cover and tour merch – faded in and out, and the fog machine belched out puffy clouds, a palpable anticipation filled the air of the basketball arena. Finally, the house music dropped and an army of phones rose up to record Eilish performing in a glowing cube to the house music-driven pulse of “CHIHRO.” What ensued for the next ninety-ish minutes was a performance that was as much about showcasing the dynamic talent of this 22-year-old superstar as it was about putting her connection with her fans in the spotlight.
Dressed in her signature garb of oversized t-shirt, basketball shorts, and the kind of socks many of us remember stuffing with cleats before soccer practice, Eilish was the epitome of weirdo cool for a generation entrenched in nostalgia and fashion mash-ups. “LUNCH” was a sharp, bass-driven ode to sexual exploration that saw Eilish running across the stage as she belted out the song’s upbeat pop flow. While the performance had its share of bangers, it also leaned into the ballads that connected on a more emotional level. Following a version of “Therefore I Am” that included hip-hop-like verses and blasts of pyrotechnic flames, Eilish took a break to admire her fans and bask in their excited collective roar that easily surpassed the volume of the speakers. In response, she serenaded them with “WILDFLOWER,” a folksy work of R&B-laced pop that showcased her vocal power.
With her bandmates performing in sunken portions of the stage, Eilish was front and center throughout the performance, creating what felt like a communal experience with her fans. It was impressive to see one artist maintain such a magnetic hold over a crowd this large, like when she asked for complete silence to live loop her vocals on the dreamy and vulnerable tune “when the party’s over.” Yet, somewhere between “THE DINER” and “ilomilo,” it was hard not to wonder if Eilish might ever engage in the kind of theatrics we sometimes expect from an artist who is dominating the upper stratosphere of pop and commanding these kinds of ticket prices.
For the most part, she ran back and forth around the stage, laid down, and minimally interacted with her backing band. It was easy to admire Eilish’s front and center approach during mega-hits like the bouncy carnival wonk of “bad guy” and her singing “THE GREATEST” from a dangling platform – one of the show’s best moments both for the vocals on display and the production – but it was hard not to find the overall performance a bit underwhelming at times no matter how many lasers and pyrotechnics were fired off. This was especially true during the acoustic section of the show that included “Your Power,” the whispery “SKINNY,” and “TV,” songs that would have commanded the attention of a coffee shop but felt hollow and a bit snoozy in the cavernous arena.
Luckily, the performance finally seemed to gain momentum when Eilish ramped up the energy again on the eerie goth-pop of “bury a friend” and a version of “Oxtocin” that exploded into full-on rave vibes when she was sprung out of a platform to perform her verses on the recent Charli XCX collaboration “guess.” The level and excitement and glee from the audience was carried through to the end of the show, with Eilish’s breakout song “Ocean Eyes” being a highlight as well as the set-closing “BIRDS OF A FEATHER,” perhaps her most straightforward and palatable work of pop to date.
Any performer who can singularly command such a large audience is impressive, and at this point, it’s clear to anyone not living under a rock that Eilish can take her career in any direction. Her performance in Portland proved this, of course, but also left much to be desired in terms of the sheer excitement many of us expect from the biggest concerts. For most legendary artists, a dynamic stage performance is ultimately what matters for longevity. While those in attendance may have felt that it fulfilled their worshipful adoration of the artist, anyone taking a broader view of the concert experience as a whole could see that the most exciting part will be where Eilish finds herself as she continues to evolve and meet the challenges of an artist growing into adulthood. Hopefully, this means building a more dynamic live show that adequately showcases the full breadth of Eilish’s creativity.
One Response
it’s not necessary to make her have to match other pop acts’ style of performance in order to be worth attending her show. there are dozen’s of acts who will give you the performance package you seem to expect. go see them. now you know. she’s always performed this way and has said on multiple occasions that she doesn’t do the “dress in a leotard and have a squad of dancers and dance routines and theatrical, belty songs” on purpose. she want’s to perform more like a male rapper. go see any of the rest of the “dynamic” divas for that. billie has always been an unlikely outlier in the industry. a publication such as yours should already know this.
thank you for the mostly positive review. i’m not trying to be a jerk. it just seemed that you want her to be more like the other pop stars. it disappoints me a little.