Billie Eilish shines in Phoenix concert despite bracelet incident

On By Littum

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Billie Eilish, still five days shy of turning 23, commanded the stage at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale on Friday, December 13, like the seasoned veteran she has become three albums deep into establishing herself among the more compelling voices in his generation.

For all the confidence she exuded when the “Happier Than Ever” tour played the same venue back in 2022, she seemed even more at home on the arena stage without losing the spark that made her something in the first place.

This tour is in support of “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” the acclaimed third album that resulted in seven more Grammy nominations for the star, while all 10 songs secured a spot in the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, including the Top 5- hits “Birds of a Feather” and “Lunch.”

Billie Eilish set list 2024: “Bad Guy” and every song she sang in Glendale

Billie Eilish played every song on ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’

The singer touched every song on “Hit Me Hard and Soft” before the set ended — a bold move that couldn’t have been more well received.

The crowd was clearly in her corner from the moment she made her entrance, tucked inside a giant cube on a hydraulic platform that lifted Eilish high above the stage as she greeted the audience with “Chihiro,” a dreamy highlight of her latest album .

The floating platform was a big part of the production and it was spectacular. But in the end, the entertainment value rested squarely on the shoulders of the woman in the Phat Farm T-shirt.

For the second song, “Lunch”, she wheeled around the stage, which spanned the entire length of the arena, and appeared in the rectangular round in short pants nearly reaching her ankles, the members of her touring band partially nestled beneath the scene with their torsos sticking out.

Billie Eilish is an energetic presence with an amazing vocal range

Eilish remains an energetic presence who understands the value of a well-placed ballad, of which there were many, from a breathtaking version of “Wildflower” that had fans waving phone lights in the air to “The Greatest” and “Your Power .” where she was accompanied by Jane and Ava Horner, friends since elementary school, which, when you’re 22, really isn’t that long ago.

That song was followed by another gorgeous ballad, “Skinny” and the folksy “TV,” where Eilish delivered the lyrics with a vulnerability to spare, strumming acoustic guitar as she rocked her way through the delivery of “I put on ‘Survivor’ just to see someone suffer/ Maybe I should get some sleep.”

The star was four songs deep into her set when she followed “Wildflower” by sitting cross-legged on the floor and demanding silence “for the first minute of this song” so she could build a vocal loop for “When It’s Over.” “

It was kind of fascinating, even after all these years of people building loops on stage, partly because it was an a capella vocal loop recorded with no frame of reference we could hear, and when the band came in, it sounded perfect.

This would be a good time to discuss the vocals.

Eilish is a brilliant vocalist that people of a certain age will never understand.

That whisper singing thing she does never feels like a gimmick. Her elastic upper register is able to navigate melodies that would have left most modern singers sent off to Auto-Tune. And whatever type of song she’s singing at the moment, she’s extraordinarily expressive.

I don’t want to overuse the word vulnerability. This is the second reference. But Eilish has this magical ability to tap into the raw emotion of a lyric, from “L’Amour de Ma Vie” to the singer’s contribution to the “Barbie” soundtrack, “What Was I Made For?”

Eilish was hit in the face during ‘What Was I Made For?’

It was while you sat cross-legged on the floor singing “What Was I Made For?” that Eilish was hit in the face with what appeared to be a flying bracelet, a moment that went viral after fans shared videos on social media.

IN a video posted on Xcan you hear a voice in the audience say, “Excuse me.”

Eilish continued to sing the hit, having missed the end of the line she was singing before picking up the item and tossing it aside, but never spoke about what had happened as the show went on.

The catharsis in the air as an arena full of concertgoers sang along to “Happier Than Ever” was ridiculously intimate for an arena show, which makes you wonder why we don’t expect this kind of intimacy from arena shows.

This is Eilish’s first tour without her brother Finneas, the singer’s primary collaborator and producer. He is apparently preparing for his own tour.

Hopefully it doesn’t mean a more permanent hiatus. They have done a great job together. And while we have no problem with at least a dozen Beatles solo albums, you kind of hate to see a good collaboration go their separate ways.

In terms of live performance, however, Eilish does just fine without her brother, blessed with a magnetic personality that speaks volumes to fans who flock to see her on these massive arena tours, and a smile that almost dares you not to smile along.

And the amazing thing is, she’s just getting started.

If the bubbly pop smartness of “Birds of a Feather” is where she’s headed, there’s no end in sight to what she can accomplish.

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Billie Eilish set list 2024: All the songs she played in Phoenix

Here are all the songs that made the set list when the Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour played the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale on Friday, December 13.

A scene

  • “Chihiro”
  • “Lunch”
  • “NDA”
  • “Therefore I am”
  • “Wildflower”
  • “When the Party’s Over” (live-looped vocal layer intro)
  • “The dining room”
  • “Ilomilo” (abbreviated)
  • “Bad Guy”
  • “The biggest”
  • “Your Power”
  • “Slender”
  • “TV”
  • “Bitter Suite” (excerpt)
  • “Bury a Friend”
  • “Oxytocin”

B stage

  • “Guess”
  • “Everything I wanted”

A scene

  • “Blue” (excerpt)
  • “Lovely”
  • “Ocean Eyes”
  • “L’Amour de Ma Vie” (contains elements of “Over Now Extended Edit”)
  • “What was I made for?”
  • “Happier Than Ever” (abridged)
  • “A bird of a feather”
  • “Blue” (excerpt)

(This story has been updated to add or change a photo or gallery.)

Ed has been covering pop music for The Republic since 2007, reviewing festivals and concerts, interviewing legends, covering the local scene and more. He did the same in Pittsburgh for more than a decade. Follow him on X and Instagram @edmasley and on Facebook as Ed Masley. Email him at [email protected].

(This story has been updated to add new information.)