The Quarter Note

 At 22 years old, Billie Eilish, a nine-time Grammy and two-time Oscar winner, kicked off her fifth world tour, ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft,’ in September 2024, and is currently making her way around the United States. This past Saturday, November 2nd, she played the first of two back-to-back shows in Atlanta, Georgia so, naturally, I hopped on a plane and got in line for General Admission at 8:30 AM. This marked my fifth time seeing Eilish in concert and my fourth time experiencing her from the pit. I believe I finally have the status of fan expertise to share my professional opinion on the show and highlight the creative and functional decisions that should have been left in the brainstorm room.

The Stage Setup

This tour is the first time Eilish has utilized high-tech floor visuals for her concerts, a trend that has sparked in popularity since Taylor Swifts ‘Eras Tour’. From ocean waves pouring across the stage during ‘ocean eyes’ to clips of horror movie scenes during ‘bury a friend’, this artistic aspect of the show was completely stripped from the eyes of floor ticket holders, as the stage was at or above eye level. 

“I slept on the street for three days and spent hundreds of dollars just to end up with an obstructed view of the stage? How is that fair?”  

Remark via a fan who attended a show in Boston, MA on October 11th.

Along with the obstructed stage view for fans in the pit, the stage layout is another aspect many fans aren’t loving. Up until this tour, Eilish has stressed the importance of feeling “close and intimate” with her audience. This has always been an easy goal to accomplish when her stage layout only faced head-on to the audience. But now, having a 360-degree wrap-around stage, fans are having to spend way too much time looking up at the Jumbotron to see her sing than they should, since half of the show is performed on the opposite side of the stage across the arena floor. 

Another fan who attended Eilish’s show in Detriot on October 7th commented on her experience at the barricade: “In her entire concert, she was only right in front of my face for probably three to five minutes. I was also on my tip toes a lot [to look at the screens] but it didn’t help much.”

“It wasn’t a true barricade experience… I need a do-over.”

This is a few of many examples of why I don’t think this stage setup works for Eilish and her fans. They wait all night to see her, to see her sing, not to watch the back of her head.

My view via barricade during the ‘Happier Than Ever’ World Tour (February 2022)

My view via barricade during the ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ World Tour (November 2024)

The setlist/song organization 

There is no escaping “mainstream status” when it comes to an artist as big as Eilish, but what I do know is there is always a way to balance catering towards newer, surface level fans while also acknowledging older, deep-cut fans.  

Looking back on the setlists of previous shows I attended in 2019 and 2020, I feel jealous of my past selves who experienced her older songs live. Now, it seems she is turning the corner to become a total pop star, as many songs beloved by older fans have been replaced with typical “people pleaser” songs.

Additionally, mashing up and/or shortening many of the songs in this setlist was a creative decision that definitely docked some points from this show. In many listeners’ opinions, it all felt very rushed, like she was just trying to “check off boxes” to fit as many songs into her set as possible. 

Many are expressing a desire for her to be more selective in picking individual songs for the set, considering her older fans while incorporating songs from her new album. And at the very least, to play the songs all the way through.

“Im literally crying.”

“WHERE is ‘i love you’, ‘b*tches broken hearts’, ‘your power’, ‘bored’, and ‘halley’s commet’ in the set?!” one fan complained, commenting under a post revealing the setlist for the Hit Me Hard and Soft tour.

We want to hear the whole song, not one snippet. I kept expecting to hear the next verse of a song, and then there would be a sharp cut off transition into a new song. She wasn’t giving these amazing pieces of work the justice and attention they deserve, ultimately leaving a bitter taste in mine and many fans’ mouths. 

via TikTok

Final Thoughts

Eilish is taking many new creative leaps going into this tour, it’s just that not all of them are landing. Maybe I’ve been spoiled, having seen her four other times, and the fifth time just really isn’t the charm? Or maybe I’m just an old-fashioned festival girl? Who knows. But we have to remember, she is still only 22 years old, and there is so much to learn this early on in one’s career. 

There are many new factors going into this tour, including it being the first one Eilish has done without her family since she started performing at 14 and the first time she has shared the stage with a full six-piece band. These challenges undoubtedly leave her with a very vulnerable and scary weight on her shoulders to be perfect. However, Eilish has been known to turn whatever she touches into gold, so despite my complaints about this show in particular, I would still consider it one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.

My hope for Eilish is that she can see these concerns from our perspectives as fans. Keep the small stage, keep the niche tracks in the set, and stick to the original lengths of the songs. Do not fix what is not broken.