Billie Eilish welcomed the Hit Me Hard and Soft world tour to Glasgow this week with a performance that blended stunning visuals with heartfelt, personal moments. The gig took place at the OVO Hydro and was the kickoff of her UK and Ireland tour. From the first song, Eilish established that this was to be more than a normal pop spectacle. Starting with Chihiro, a slow and emotive offering, she started quietly and gently. While the arena was full of billy fans, the performance felt personal and intimate as if she was talking to one person to the other, in the audience.
The stage setup assisted in simulating that. The square stage, with Eilish serendipitously at the core of the venue, positioned her to walk and see fans in every direction. Throughout the entire event Eilish walked around, looking and engaging with different facets of the crowd.
One of the more memorable moments was her performance of Bad Guy, when her handheld camera was used to film the crowd and the band. The footage was displayed on the screens above the stage, allowing the audience to be a part of it all. This was already a unique artistic display exhibiting one of the concert ideas: the duality and entanglement of performer and fan, and the energy and shared connection they experience.
The concert was timed to continue building this idea of being part of the performance, culminating in the fan-favorite Happier Than Ever, a song that starts slow and soft, but climaxes into a loud, intense explosion. The song progressed with a gentle build, but almost immediately as we heard the beginning, alongside flashing lights, loud guitar riffs, and Eilish's loud voice, the energy of the crowd exploded.
Beyond simply a collection of songs, the show was, in fact, a more profound exploration of Eilish’s construct of fame. She did not speak a lot between sung songs, yet the construct of the concert told a story.
By ceding moments of the show to her fan or using technology to reflect the audience back into a new performance context, Eilish created moments for her audience to critically think about dominating connotations of being a star—and a fan. Ultimately, she maintained the integrity of the performance while soliciting the emotional experience from the audience to create a sense of belonging.
The stage visuals were a significant part of the event. Bright, bold colors and floating shapes filled the screens on songs including Birds of a Feather, which was the final song of the night. Sure, some songs, including Lunch or Wildflower, may not have landed as obviously in the large venue, but the overall impression remained quite strong because of Eilish's confidence in being present on stage, and powerfully using her voice.
When the lights dimmed for the final time, it was evident Eilish delivered something beyond the traditional concert. She brought them into her world, asking them to consider fame, identity, and connection. Her performance in Glasgow confirmed she is only lighting the fuse on her growth as an artist and performer.
