Billie Eilish performs at Prudential Center on October 9, 2024.
By Paige Cornell
Sporting a retro New Jersey Nets uniform, 22-year-old Billie Eilish took the stage at Newark’s Prudential Center as part of her ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour.” The young pop star played to a sold-out arena in support of her third album, noting that she “loves” performing in New Jersey.
Eilish saw overnight success in 2015 with her single, “Ocean Eyes.” After the track was uploaded to the music-sharing platform SoundCloud, the dreamy tune went viral overnight. Eilish’s reign in the music industry has not shown any signs of slowing down, with her latest album going platinum.
The two-time Oscar winner was greeted with roaring applause and thunderous cheers from the anticipating crowd. But she wasted no time getting into the music, opening the show with “Chihiro,” which is based on the 2001 animated feature, Spirited Away. For the hour and forty minutes that Eilish was on stage, she made use of every corner of the 360 setup, running from end to end multiple times. The unique setup also integrated the stage’s Jumbotron, as Eilish would occasionally be given a camera when going underneath the stage during a song to cross to the other side.
Eilish wanted to replicate her recording environment with this tour, having no back-up dancers on-stage and mainly relying on herself while performing to the crowd. Before singing “When the Party’s Over,” Eilish explained that she likes to loop her voice while singing at home. It was impressive watching her quiet thousands of people as she did this. With rapt attention, the audience watched as she gave us a peak into her success. She even brought some people from home, her two neighbors, whom Eilish noted she has sung with for many years. Doing an intimate acoustic set with the neighbors, she mentioned, was how they used to sing together before her music became a professional operation.
The singer had serious moments throughout her tour like with her melodic anthems “The Greatest,” “Skinny,” and “Everything I Wanted,” often bathing the stage in deep blues or purples as she belted out each note. But when it came time for the upbeat tracks on her set list, Eilish switched things up as she opted for strobe lights and encouraging audience members to dance with her.
During the summer, Charli XCX’s synth-pop album ‘Brat’ became a viral hit, and Eilish was featured on one of the songs. She made sure to include the suggestive “Guess” in her set list, utilizing the colors of the album as the stage turned neon green. The audience got especially loud for this track, seeming to enjoy the incorporation of it in the set list just as much as Eilish did singing it.
Eilish continued to show that she is a tour-de-force in music, playing multiple instruments throughout the night. At the end of the show, surprised the arena with her brother, whom she noted earlier was not beside her as he usually is. Her brother, Finneas, told audiences on his social media account that he would not be attending this some of this tour due to the release of his own album and the subsequent tour that he embarked on. It was a sweet way to end a nearly two-hour set.
Set List: