Credit Henry Hwu (@henryhwu on IG)
A recently “Out” musician has been telling the world how happy she is by coming out and expressing all the joy in the world telling every queer person in the world how full of joy their lives can be. Said recent superstar addition to the LGBTQ community is the pop star Billie Eilish. A powerful popstar lighting up the torch of inspiration and support, and running with it, loudly.
Billie came out as bisexual to no surprise to anyone who was paying attention, since then she has had a great time navigating her identity, her fans, and the music industry. So far she has become an inspirational icon to the younger generations.
To cover an event like this is quite an honor, and I flew to Denver for this show, knowing it was going to be a fabulous performance but no idea how over the top this was going to be.
Event : Billie Eilish
Venue : Ball Arena
Date: November 19 2024
City: Denver Colorado
Tour: Hit Me Hard and Soft – Tour Link
Supporting act: Nat & Alex Wolff
After navigating some of the worst traffic I had ever seen, trying to get there, and rerouting through so many accidents on the road, we got to the Ball Arena through some providence of the universe. My daughter who was with me is a HUGE Billie fan, and our anticipation was through the roof.
Opening Act
Nat & Alex Wolff were the opening band. Their instruments and drum kit were ON the stage, allowing them to go wherever they wanted to talk to whoever was in the arena. They’re a very talented band, with everyone switching instruments, the drummer was on bass, the keyboard player on guitar, and there was no one tied to one specific instrument. You should check this one out as the brothers are a lot of fun live. They played a song that Billie had produced for them called “Soft Kissing Hour”, and they closed with a great song with the lyrics, “Just cover your body in Superglue”.
Having looked into this tour, and the art director and lighting designers worked on other tours I’ve seen, (live music nerds really geek out on set design, etc), I was expecting something “Lada Gaga-esque”, and so far this stage was looking like we could go that direction.
The stage had two pits on either side, clearly for the musicians, one side was a guitarist, keyboardist, and 2 backing vocalists, and the other was the drummer and bassist. I have seen Billie Eilish pull plenty of comedic stunts at her own expense just to connect with her fans, and this guaranteed that we were all going to have a lot of fun.
Billie Opens the Show
As the arena darkened, the stage became alive when a large cage lowered from the top of the arena. The cage was suddenly lit as if it was covered in TV screens, and laser lights blasting everywhere. Then suddenly Billie Eilish was standing on a platform on top of the cage. Opening with “Chihiro”, she delivered it with some loud beats, and the singing over the subdued beats of the original. This was getting intense, as the stage itself suddenly was a screen displaying graphics and plenty of light. She had a chorus of punters singing as loud as the PA system. What an opening.
The lights went from cool hypnotic blue to red, BRIGHT RED, as she dove into “Lunch”, leaving nothing to the imagination of her sexual fantasies. I would dare say Billie Eilish could sing lyrics that would have made even Frank Zappa and “The Bloodhound Gang” blush. Dare I say for sexual lyrics, Prince has nothing on Billie Eilish with lines like “I could eat that girl for lunch”. It was during this song that I saw bras flying onto the stage, and panties landing where she was walking.
Now, I have seen Paul Young in concert, an English teen heartthrob, and I have heard all the stories about Engelbert Humperdink, and even Tom Jones all having such projectiles hurled at them while performing on stage. But this time, it was Billie Eilish, and her queer fans were now the ones throwing their underwear on stage. At that moment, I saw the whole world I once knew, turned on its side, with the young women screaming for her. I was happy to see that shift in the dichotomy of rock and roll.
With the stage as large as it is, there is little room on the floor for the punters, but with the stage being center, and so big, that meant there were no “Bad” seats in the house. Everyone had a great view of her on the stage, without all of the stage, and PA system obstructing anyone’s view. As I said, her tour production designers really made this a great experience for everyone.
She then sang “NDA”. After a quick time change in the middle of the song, she switched to “Therefore I Am”. Because the stage WAS the lighting rig, shifting geometric patterns, back and forth in red and black, while she was walking from one end to another, no real need for a spotlight. Every time she said the word “MAN” or “AM” the pyrotechnic pods would blast out columns of fire. I was close enough to feel the heat from it (once again, production geek out here, this was fantastic).
Billie asked everyone to turn on their cell phone flashlights to illuminate the arena, which I guess replaced the cigarette lighters of the previous Rock & Roll Circus, she had the venue lit while she sang “WILDFLOWER” It was quite a beautiful sight.
Amidst all the noise and shrieking of the entire venue, Billie sat down on the middle of the stage, and said:
“This is the only time I’m going to ask you to be quiet for the entire night”.
And she began to sing, and then waited a moment, and it was played back, and she sang on top of it, creating a looping effect. After what I think was about 5 times, she had a full harmony of herself singing and then she lit up the venue with “when the party’s over”. There were stage lights that illuminated straight up, creating a sort of “curtain of light” while she sang lying on her back on a stage of pure white light.
She then played “The Diner” which I always thought was perfect for a Tim Burton film soundtrack. The song is about her calling out a stalker.
A few songs later she sang the first song I ever knew of hers, “Bad Guy”, and then the next song floated on the platform she entered the concert on. She had her backing vocalists sisters Eva and Jane come to the center of the stage, they all sat on bistro bar chairs, Billie said: “I know it’s been a rough couple of weeks, and I want all of you to know that you are safe here, and you are seen”. She played “The Greatest” on her acoustic guitar, and the backing vocals made it all very simple, and calming.
Then the entire band came onto the main stage with her and played “SKINNY” which was very emotional, as she sang about her self image, I suppose there was body shaming for some time, singing about turning 21, and while others think she should be happy because she is “Skinny” she sees her younger self, and she still thinks she is pretty, and it flowed into TV, with a simple time change.
This segment of the show had the song “Bittersweet” on tape, then went into “Bury a Friend”, all about crazy drugs and bad habits.
After all of this, she played “Oxytocin” which, believe it or not, sounded like the original recording. Chill beats, her voice riding on top of it all, with everyone getting their groove on and dancing away. She sang the final chorus with a blitz of lights flashing all over the stage looking like a TV going into reset mode, and the pyro pods blasting flames in a complete assault on the senses.
Related Post: Billie Eilish Opens Up About Coming Out
As the lights dropped the screens suddenly had Charli XCX singing her single “GUESS” that she did with Billie. If you haven’t heard it, imagine a thick North London accent saying “I guess you want to know what I’ve got going on down there” and a music video of the both of them saying all the sexual innuendos about what someone has under their pants, going into great detail, and if you didn’t know the words, they were printed on the stage for all to see, and sing along to. For the beginning of this song Billie was nowhere to be seen, then suddenly the lights all went to where Billie was suddenly launched onto a smaller stage. Sending the crowd into a frenzy as she had pulled quite a fast one on everybody Billie sang the song along with the video image on the screen, asking the entire venue to sing along with her.
From so much hype and action, she sang “everything i wanted” from this small stage, when she walked back to the main stage and was followed by a cameraman as she walked around giving a high 5 to as many people as she could, then she was handed the camera and turned it on herself, then walked around and got in the stage while visible to all wherever she was.
With her song mash-ups, she played “lovely / idontwannabeyouranymore / ocean eyes” all in one long breath on a piano, then she asked how everyone was doing, then she sang the song that honestly came straight out of the 1930s, and could have been performed by Marlene Dietrich herself.
It was at this point that I realized how in party costume everyone was. My daughter had spent an hour doing her hair and getting dressed up, there were people in shark costumes, and there were others in Lederhosen as if they had just come from Oktoberfest, to be honest so many crazy fun outfits made me feel like I was back in the 90s, back in the old school raves. In a winter jacket, hoodie, and blue jeans, I was very under dressed.
Singing into a voice modulator her voice was filtered through a funky 70s flange, Billie gave us “What was I made for” which added to her skill set, to be honest.
She thanked her band and mentioned how she was without her brother Fineas, and she explained that the opening band Nat and Alex Wolff were good friends, and she loved spending time with them, so she brought them on tour just so she could have a reason to hang out with them. She assured everyone LGBTQ and otherwise that she has their back, and she assumes we all have hers.
We all sang along with “Happier than Ever”, then “Birds of a Feather” when she said “I’ll love ya till the day I Die”, confetti cannons blasted blue confetti, and some pieces of a blue figure laying on its side and the stage was like a movie screen showing a beautiful flowerbed. She closed with “Blue” with the strings arrangement playing a sweet sad melody. Billie ran off the stage then into the tunnel, and then she vanished.
Before we knew it, the show was over, With no breaks, no intermission, and no encores, Billie Eilish had one hour and 40 minutes of her best.
This was one of the greatest productions I have seen in close to a thousand concerts. Everyone who was there had a wonderful time, and felt edified. Billie Eilish has taken her being a member of the LGBTQ Community and used her platform to bring visibility and hope to her queer brothers and sisters. This was such an inspiring event, I hope if you weren’t able to get a ticket to one of her shows, I hope you can on the next tour, and feel the love of her message. Cheers Billie, and welcome to the family.
