I found myself in a sea of people this weekend, ranging in age, all excited for the same reason – Billie Eilish was playing a sold out show at The Bluebird Theater in Denver.
Billie has been on the rise as a new artist for a little while now, with her song “Ocean Eyes” going gold in February. Not only that, she recently played Jimmy Fallon and is booked for Lollapalooza. Oh, and did I say she’s only 16 years old? Because she is.
Personally, I didn’t think that I could be anymore impressed with Billie, that is, until I saw her live. Overall, the show was definitely one for the books. The opener, Reo Cragun, put on an incredibly energetic performance that really got the crowd ready for Billie’s performance. The best part about the opening act was that it was clear to see that he was enjoying himself and really putting everything he had into his set.
As the night went on, the excitement could be felt in the air as people started to anticipate when Billie would take the stage. Once the lights went down, everyone knew they were in for a treat. Her backing band walked on stage and shot dollar bills with her face on it into the crowd as she joined the stage and everyone lost their minds.
She started her set with the energetic track “Bellyache” from her debut EP dont smile at me. From the second that song started to the last note she sang, Billie gave the crowd her all. On top of her amazing energy and stage presence, her vocals were even better live than on any official recording of the songs. Every impressive note found on the EP Billie hit perfectly, if not better, leaving members of the audience with chills running up and down their arms.
At one point in the show, she came on stage with her ukulele, ready to wow the crowd with her musical talent even further. She started with a cover of “Hotline Bling” by Drake that visibly shocked the crowd by how beautifully she sang it. This cover lead perfectly into “Party Favor,” which is a personal favorite of mine, and it definitely did not disappoint.
Aside from the amazing performance she continued to offer, Billie had a personality that was hard not to be happy with. While watching her on stage, I had several moments where all I could think was, “she definitely deserves everything she has and that is to come.” I’ve been to so many concerts over the years, but the feeling I had at this one was something of substance.
Before playing a new song that has yet been released, Billie asked that everyone in the room put down their phones and just be in the moment. This is a sentiment that I’ve heard many times before at shows, but it was especially important at this show because it was coming from such a young artist. She made the point that all of us would never be in the same room together at that exact time ever again, which was pretty amazing.
Everything about that night and Billie in general made me happy to be a part of what she was doing, and gave me hope for the future as far as young artists go. I left Billie’s concert feeling incredibly energized and happy to be alive. So, do yourself a favor, and if you haven’t heard Billie’s music yet, look it up. And if you have heard her music, make sure you find a way to one of her shows as soon as humanly possible. You’ll thank me later.
All photos taken by the author.