More Show than Fan Closeness: That was the Vienna Concert of Billie Eilish
The long-awaited Billie Eilish concert in the Vienna Stadthalle is somewhat reminiscent of prime-time TV programming: It starts at exactly 8:15 PM, lasts 90 minutes, and is as expected. This realization came on Friday evening when the 23-year-old, recently crowned "Artist of the Year" at the "American Music Awards," performed in Austria for the first time since 2019. As part of her "Hit Me Hard and Soft" tour, Eilish delivered a solid best-of medley without a personal touch.
Enormous Rush for Billie Eilish's Vienna Concert
Even the way to the Stadthalle turned into a gauntlet: "Buy Ticket," read the cardboard signs, A4 sheets, and phone displays held up by young girls. Austrian fans had to wait a long time for a Billie Eilish concert, as she had only appeared here six years ago at the Frequency Festival in St. Pölten despite several tours. Accordingly, tickets for the only Vienna concert sold out quickly. The size (and ambition) of the rush was evident in scenes in the foyer, where even cleaning staff in safety vests were picked out by security staff to show identification.
Singer Last in Austria in 2019
Since Eilish's last appearance in Austria, a lot has happened: Two more albums, countless Grammys, and two Oscars later, a young woman presents herself here, who always addresses her growing up under the public eye in her songs. The usual stage setup of the Stadthalle is broken up with the help of a centrally arranged, rectangular stage in the middle of the audience. While Eilish performs for 90 minutes on the stage equipped with an LED floor, the musicians of the four-piece band are found in two orchestra pits. Eilish's brother and producer mastermind Finneas is nowhere to be found here: He is currently on tour with his own musical projects.
Concert in Vienna Stadthalle Was a 90-Minute Off-the-Shelf Medley
And so Eilish, who already built an online fan community at the age of 13 with "Ocean Eyes," stands visibly alone on stage this time. Her interaction with her Vienna audience is limited to sentences like "Are you drinking enough water? I'm sorry it's so hot." The former closeness to the fans clearly takes a back seat in front of a crowd of around 15,000 people. At least it smells like caramelized popcorn, deodorant, and supposedly the gum that Eilish has in her mouth throughout the concert.
In her choreographed stage show, Eilish starts with the opener "Chihiro" from her current album "Hit me Hard and Soft." Although the singer has stage technology that the Beatles could only dream of, hardly a song can be heard in the first quarter of an hour - the fans sing along so enthusiastically. Only when Eilish explicitly asks her overexcited fans to be quiet for a minute before her 2018 song "When the Party's over" to record her overdubs, does the crowd (briefly) calm down somewhat.
"Bad Guy" is far from a highlight
With "NDA," one of the hits from Eilish's 2021 second album "Happier Than Ever" follows, in which she deals with the downsides of fame. An energy that she immediately carries into the beat-heavy "Therefore I am" from the same year, in which Eilish addresses the numerous attributions of the media.
The fact that Billie Eilish performs her mega-hit "Bad Guy" already in the middle of her set probably best illustrates the successful run the singer has had since the song's release six years ago. Which she sums up shortly thereafter in the first lines of "The Greatest": "I'm trying my best to keep you satisfied."
Before the hall boiled over at temperatures of a perceived 50 degrees, Eilish, who also repeatedly played the acoustic guitar, presented her Oscar-winning "Barbie" song "What Was I Made For," the bitterly sarcastic "Happier Than Ever," and finally with "Birds Of A Feather" her final song. The delicate love song was the most streamed song on Spotify in 2024. And makes it clear: "Bad Guy" was far from Eilish's career highlight.
(By Sonja Harter/APA)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.