The pop star was at the top of her game, performing tracks from all three of her studio albums.
Billie Eilish performs ay UBS Arena in New York on Saturday night (Oct. 25)
HENRY HWU @HENRYHWU
Billie Eilish has been touring for well over a year at this point. She’s probably exhausted — it would be understandable if she was sick and tired of life on the go — but if either of those things were true, the thousands of fans at the UBS Arena in New York on Saturday night (Oct. 25) would never have been able to tell.
The singer — who previously stopped through NYC’s Madison Square Garden in October 2024 — was poised, energetic and appeared to be having the the time of her life on stage, playing the first of two back-to-back shows at the venue on her mammoth Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour supporting last year’s album of the same name. If anything, Eilish’s marathon time on the road since the trek kicked off two Septembers ago has only made her a stronger, sharper performer, with the star commanding her setlist of songs spanning all three of her studio albums, her debut EP Don’t Smile at Me and club-ready Charli xcx collaboration “Guess” with impressive stamina and musicality.
And despite a headline-making instance of an over-aggressive concertgoer forcibly yanking her at a show in Miami, the best part of Saturday’s show was the vulnerable connection and trust Eilish maintains with her fans regardless of the potential dangers. “You’re very precious to me, and I feel the need to protect you always,” she said shortly before performing Oscar-winning Barbie anthem “What Was I Made For?” while holding the hands of front-rowers reaching out to her.
“I just love you so much, and I’ll always fight for you and stand up for you,” she added. “Just know that I got you, and I know you got me.”
Eilish, finally, is now in the final stretch of her HMHAS tour, with the nine-time Grammy winner having just a month left of shows to go before wrapping with two nights at the Chase Center in San Francisco in late November. From impeccable vocal moments to a hilarious looper snafu, check out Billboard‘s roundup of the best moments from her last stop in New York on her finale lap through the United States below.
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Billie the Belter
Image Credit: HENRY HWU @HENRYHWU Trending on Billboard
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}This certainly isn’t the first time Eilish’s vocal growth has been pointed out, but if there’s anyone left out there who still thinks of her as a quiet, whisper-soft singer, all they need to do is attend one of her concerts to realize how wrong they are. Even from the opening number — Hit Me Hard and Soft‘s “Chihiro” — it was clear that she has completely leveled up in her singing capabilities, with the star beautifully belting freely and often throughout the set. That even included songs where you wouldn’t necessarily expect her to let loose vocally, like on “NDA,” but it only ever elevated the original versions.
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“Wildflower” Wins Again
Image Credit: HENRY HWU Trending on Billboard
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}Nearly a year and a half after Billboard ranked “Wildflower” the No. 1 song on Hit Me Hard and Soft, Eilish proved that the track is still one of her all-timers with an exquisite and palpably passionate live performance toward the beginning of her set. It also marked one of the loudest instances of fans singing along with her the entire night, with the crowd becoming part of the show by screaming the studio version’s backup vocals in call-and-response form — something that’s become a tradition amongst Eilish’s concertgoers.
Another thing that made the number extra special: the arena holding up their phone flashlights without Eilish even having to ask, surrounding her in a comforting glow as she poured her heart out in some of the most vulnerable lyrics she’s ever written.
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When the Party’s … Oops
Image Credit: HENRY HWU Trending on Billboard
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}One of the coolest moments in Eilish’s show is when she performs “When the Party’s Over” from debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? a cappella, stacking her own harmonies with a looper tool. “Listen, listen,” she instructed the crowd beforehand. “The thing is, it will only work if the entire room is completely silent for, like, one minute. It’s the only time in the whole show that you’ll have to be quiet.”
Despite Eilish’s plea, a fan or two couldn’t help themselves when the arena went silent. “I love you!” they screamed as the singer recorded her first harmony layer, after which other audience members loudly scolded them.
Unfortunately, the rogue “I love you!” did make it into the loop, and as it played again and again while Eilish continued stacking vocals, the crowd — assuming that people were still being unruly and not realizing that it was the same “I love you” being repeated — continued chastising the rule-breakers, which led to even more noise bleeding into the recording. Eilish, however, took it in stride, cracking up a little before giving a “yikes” expression and moving the number along like a pro, extra sound effects included.
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Billie Uses Her Power for Good
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}Shortly before one of the show’s quieter moments — during which Eilish invites fans to sit down for a spell as she sings moving ballad “Your Power” and accompanies herself on acoustic guitar — the star gave a stirring speech about the importance of connecting with others through live music. “It’s, like, a really dark time in the world,” she began.
“It’s a really scary time, and it’s hard to feel like there’s anything that’s making a difference at all,” Eilish continued. “It feels like we’re all doomed a little bit … but also, I think that it’s really special that we have [this]. I have this feeling of like, ‘Oh, I shouldn’t do shows, maybe, because I feel like there’s more important things in the world,’ or something. Then I think, ‘It’s actually really important that we have things that bring us together and art that we love, and that we have togetherness at all.’”
She went on to share that she feels “really, really grateful and lucky” that she gets to hold concerts at a time when it’s more vital than ever. “I think we all really need it, and we need to be together, and we need to have this glue that keeps us one, you know?” Eilish added. “I hope you feel safe here, and I hope that you feel comfortable to be yourself.”
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Handheld Shenanigans
Image Credit: HENRY HWU @HENRYHWU Trending on Billboard
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}Eilish’s visuals — which included lasers, horror-movie-esque stills and pyrotechnics — were top tier throughout the one-hour, 45-minute show, but one of the best effects also happened to be the most simple. At different points in the program, the singer carried a handheld camera with her as she walked around and under her stage, giving each individual band and crew member a chance to wave “hi” to the audience as the feed projected live on the big screens.
She also carried the camera as she moved through the pit and performed “Guess” on a B-stage, where Eilish pointed the lens down at the fans below and gave them a rare glimpse at her POV. Without the handheld, the crowd also never would have gotten to see the completely random visitor Eilish had chilling beneath the stage the entire time — a life-size Tinky-Winky Teletubby — whom she filmed while crossing under the risers between “Everything I Wanted” and a mashup of “Lovely,” “Blue” and “Ocean Eyes” on piano. Eh-oh!