Photo Courtesy of Billie Eilish’s Facebook Page
Author: Ciara Loughnane
On Wednesday night, my roommate and I were fairly certain we had somehow stumbled into a line for a Justin Bieber or One Direction concert. A line had wrapped around the entire block, full of 16-year-old girls who looked like they had just stepped out of a Brandy Melville or Wild Fable catalog. Needless to say, we felt somewhat out of place at this Billie Eilish concert.
Billie Eilish is a 16-year-old singer who has blown up over the past year. With dreamy, grungy, pop songs, she’s clearly found her home with a strong, young fanbase. Girls I talked to had been waiting in line for hours and were beyond excited to go to this sold-out show.
Doors opened at 7:30pm, but by 8:00pm we were still over a block away from the door. With so many girls not dressed for the weather, it was fairly upsetting to be let in so much later. By the time we got inside the venue, girls were literally running for the pit, inching closer and closer to where Billie would eventually preform. Multiple times throughout the night, both security and performers would ask us to take steps back to give girls up against the rail a little more room.
One thing that I hadn’t been expecting was how kind and welcoming everyone I spoke to at the show really was. Despite being much older than everyone else we were standing with, my roommate and I quickly made friends with two different groups of girls we were standing by. They are now my official children and I would die for them and their pure souls.
This positive energy radiated throughout the night. When FINNEAS took the stage as the first opener of the night, the crowd went wild. Girls were screaming after almost every other word. His set was fairly short, choosing only to play a few songs. My personal favorites were “Let’s Fall in Love for the Night” and “I’m in Love Without You”, both were a little more upbeat and got the crowd moving.
After another quick set by rapper Childish Money, where I felt extremely old for not knowing any of his songs while the entire crowd sang along, it was finally time for Billie to take the stage. At this point it was 10:00pm, and many of her younger fans were getting antsy. I overheard multiple phonecalls with annoyed parents explaining that the show hadn’t even started yet.
When Billie finally emerged, everyone in the room lost their freaking mind; I don’t think I’ve ever heard such an excited crowd. For the entire show you could barely even hear Billie singing, as the entire room was screaming every word. There were lots of fun antics throughout the night, with everyone dancing along to the Wii, Mario, and The Office theme music whenever there was downtime between songs. Her set went by surprisingly quickly, clocking in at just under an hour before she left the stage. She did run back on stage for a quick encore of two more songs.
Overall it was quite a memorable night. As I left The Showbox, I saw many girls clutching their merch and already reminiscing about how magical the whole experience was. While this certainly wasn’t my first concert, it was for many of the people attending. Being able to experience that excitement with them was something special and Billie and her team should feel proud that they were able to do that for so many girls in Seattle that night.
Make sure to follow Billie Eilish on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
CIARA LOUGHNANE | i’m too old for this | KXSU Digital Media Director