New Eyes On Eilish

San Francisco’s Chase Center serves as Billie Eilish and FINNEAS’s victory tour, fresh after their monumental achievement of their first Oscar for their song, “No Time To Die” for the film of the same name.

Billie Eilish has cemented herself in the world of pop culture ever since her song “Ocean Eyes” went viral in 2016. With six Grammy awards under her belt and earning a multitude of accolades, I was unaware of her music apart from “Bad Guy” and “when the party’s over”, so interacting with her discography for the first time, especially in a live setting, I was unsure of what to expect. When she took the stage on Tuesday, March 29 and launched into “bury a friend”, accompanied by glitchy red visuals, and skipping down the stage with a coy smirk, the crowd belonged to Eilish. The real time distortion of Eilish on the LED screens and the red lights that flooded my senses, welcomed me to Eilish’s mangled fantasyland. 

“It’s been a crazy week,” exclaimed the singer-songwriter, briefly halting her performance. “This is my first show winning an Oscar. Like what the fuck,” continued Eilish.

The versatile vocal range demonstrated by Eilish was on full display, flawlessly transitioning from the sensual Spanish inspired track “Billie Bossa Nova” to the ethereal “GOLDWING”. Shifting hard to “COPYCAT”, Eilish engaged her hungry fans to participate in the show by instructing us to get as low as we could and leap up at her signal. During that song, Eilish earned me as a fan. The sedative dance joint “ilomilo” capped off this floating fraction of the show.

Pausing to address the crowd, the 20-year-old announced that it was her mother, Maggie’s birthday, inviting the passionate audience to serenade her with “Happy Birthday”. Her fans, and myself enthusiastically obliged. She took this time to discuss the power dynamic between the talent and their fans, stating, “We need to protect young women,”. After this concluded, Eilish welcomed her brother, FINNEAS, to her side for an acoustic rendition of “i love you”. Under a spotlight, the siblings’ silhouettes blanketed the crowd, connecting the artists to their devotees.

Concluding with “bad guy” and “Happier Than Ever” aided by a shower of white confetti bathing the crowd, roars of fulfilled screams swirled through the venue. Knowing the first of two songs, I too yelled in appreciation. With the spectacle closing, I was left with a deep appreciation for Billie Eilish, devouring the unplayed songs in the following hours. The afterglow that followed will keep me coming back for more.

Article and show photos by Greg Perez

Featured Photo by Skyler Greene