Live review: Billie Eilish begins Australian Happier Than Ever tour in Sydney
“I ghosted my therapist to see you,” read a handwritten sign held high at the front of the mosh pit for the first night of Billie Eilish’s biggest Australian tour yet | REVIEW
“I ghosted my therapist to see you,” read a handwritten sign held high at the front of the mosh pit for the first night of Billie Eilish’s biggest Australian tour yet.
To be sought out as the unofficial shrink for almost 20,000 screaming fans would come with incredible pressure, especially for someone who’s not yet old enough to legally drink in her home country, but it’s a role the 20-year-old American pop icon embraces with grace and empathy.
Eilish built numerous therapeutic moments into her 90 minute set: at one point she asked the crowd at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on Tuesday night to stand up and bounce around to release any anxiety or stress, and paused mid-song during You Should See Me in a Crown to encourage raw, guttural screams from her audience.
“I want us all to feel loose and free tonight,” she said lovingly. “I don’t want anyone to give a f..k... for the rest of the night you have permission to throw a tantrum.”
This is the fourth time the superstar has visited Australia, having last toured here pre-pandemic in 2019, and in the intervening years her fame has catapulted exponentially.
Eilish has now won seven Grammy Awards and even a Golden Globe for her rendition of the most recent James Bond theme, titled No Time To Die.
She is one of the world’s biggest pop stars with a whopping 50 million monthly listeners on Spotify – an incredible feat for someone so young – and fittingly, this world tour is nothing short of a spectacle.
The first night of her 12-date Happier Than Ever run — which shares its name with her second album, released last year — opened with a bang: Eilish jumped out from a trap door in the floor with explosive intensity and set the tone for what was to come.
Dressed in her signature baggy clothing, she bounded around the stage with a youthful and powerful energy to opener Bury A Friend. The physical toll of the show was evident on her body, with sports tape strapped to her shins, but this larger-than-life physicality did not compromise her vocal performance.
Her breathy, angelic tone was evident even during the more intense parts of the show, but was given space to truly shine during an intimate, acoustic moment with her brother Finneas, who co-writes and produces a lot of her music.
After her audience had finished introducing the siblings to the ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi’ chant — “What the hell is that?” Eilish asked, perplexed, to the crowd’s amusement — the pair performed a stunning rendition of politically-charged ballad Your Power with delicious harmonies.
At another point in the night, Eilish ascended above the screaming crowd on the arm of a crane, singing the soaring melodic line of Ocean Eyes, and encouraged everyone to wave the lights on their phones along in time.
The main stage had an adjustable ramp which Eilish relished running up and down, and the performance was accompanied by impressive lighting and video projections – oscillating from creepy graphics of spiders and skeletons, footage about climate change, and cute home videos from her childhood.
Eilish has built an adoring base of loyal fans who, when she approached the barrier to sing directly at them, fell over themselves to touch her or be close to her.
“I’d die for you Billie,” one of them yelled, right before confetti cannons exploded over the crowd.
The artist’s incredible success is a testament to her dedicated work ethic, charisma and ability to write lyrics that capture the restless essence of a generation. And with a live performance such as this, her longevity is not at all in question.
Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever tour continues in Sydney on September 14 and 15, followed by Brisbane (September 17, 18 and 19), Melbourne (September 22, 23, 24 and 26) and Perth (September 29 and 30).
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