In 2019, was still a teenager’s conspirational secret. With her green hair and dissociative gaze, she signalled the rise of Gen Z and their internet-meddled influence on the culture. Grown-ups didn’t immediately ‘get’ it.
But at last night’s show at ’s AO Arena, in support of Eilish’s second album Happier Than Ever, it appeared that the adults had finally caught up. There was hardly a teenager in sight.
Eilish came out dressed like she was going to badminton practice, wearing grey shorts and an oversized tee.
Her black hair parted into two rascally pigtails, she pogoed around the stage for opener ‘bury a friend’, bouncing up and down with the vehemence of a temper tantrum.
The stage design was minimal and embraced a sort of heavy metal aesthetic, sticking to a strict palette of red, black and white.
Just over an hour into the set, Eilish and singer/songwriter brother Finneas came to the front of the stage for an acoustic interlude.
‘We haven’t done this since 2017,’ Eilish said, as they prepared to debut a new song called ‘TV’, which happened to be the highlight of the night.
With heavy-hitting lyrics which covered everything from disordered eating to the overturning of Roe Vs Wade, it may well be the best song Eilish has ever written.
Eilish’s intimate and close-to-the-mic music has been compared to ASMR (tingly, feel-good), so it was astonishing to see her convey that same level of intimacy to a crowd of tens of thousands.
Her colourful and conversational delivery making it feel as though she was in a secret communion with each individual in the crowd.
Like her audience, Eilish has come of age.
