Fans from all over the East Coast packed the dimmed arena. The crowd roared in anticipation as they waited for one of their favorite artists, Billie Eilish, to come out.
On Oct. 23rd, 24th and 25th, Grammy award winning singer and songwriter Billie Eilish performed three consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden. The 22 year-old sang new songs off of her album Hit Me Hard And Soft which skyrocketed to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 days after its release. She co-wrote this album alongside her brother and producer Finneas O’Connell and performed her most popular songs like Lunch and Birds of a Feather. Impressively, all ten of her songs on the album reached the top 40 of Billboard’s Top 100.
“Her new album is definitely one of my favorites,” senior Shannen McCann said. “She incorporates both her older and more recent styles which really created an album that anyone could listen to and enjoy.”
The Hit Me Hard And Soft Tour was Eilish’s seventh concert tour of her career. Beginning her tour on September 29, Eilish has made her way throughout Canada and the northern states of the US. Eilish’s trip to New York came right before a two week break, where she’ll then continue touring into July of 2025.
“I like Billie Eilish because she’s so different from other artists,” McCann said. “Her style is so fluid and she tries a lot of new things throughout every album she makes.”
For all her shows in Madison Square Garden, artistic duo Nat and Alex Wolff were her openers. Nat and Alex Wolff are a brother duo who are most famously known for their Nickelodeon Show, “The Naked Brothers Band.” The duo performed songs of theirs including “Backup Plan” and “Glue”. Although there for Eilish, those in the crowd were more than receptive to the duo and sang along to their songs. The excitement being created previewed an amazing concert that was soon to start. About a half hour after their opening, Billie Eilish began her show.
With her setlist starting off with Chichiro, the atmosphere of the arena was automatically electric. Eilish jumped out with bright flashing lights and her subsequent performance of Lunch was accompanied by a neon background and vocals that could be heard from the nosebleeds.
“It was surreal to see her in person, her visuals and vocals were super good and entertaining,” senior Kristina Villela said.
All three shows were completely sold out and there wasn’t an empty seat in sight. With over 19,000 people attending each night, you’d have fun no matter what night you went.
“The fandom is what makes the shows, there’s not a single person sitting or not singing,” sophomore Madison Agosto said. “Billie puts on a really great show.”
During her song, “when the party’s over”, Billie is known to layer her vocals and adlibs in front of the crowd. This makes each performance of the song unique because the vocals she sings to are the ones she just created live.
“I especially enjoyed the part where she layered her vocals live,” said Villela. “I love how she gets the crowd involved in her songs.”
On her final night at The Garden, Eilish changed her setlist, unexpectedly switching her song “Male Fantasy” for “i love you”. This took the crowd by surprise as she hasn’t performed the song for over four years.
Eilish and her band later went on SNL the night after her last show in MSG. During her ongoing two week break from touring, Eilish has been seen at Dodgers games in Los Angeles.
“Seeing her in concert was the most exciting thing ever,” said Agosto. “Hearing the music you’ve listened to everyday being performed live, right in front of you, is the most beautiful thing ever.”
