Thousands of people of all ages gathered at Gila River Arena April 2 and April 4 for Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever Tour. Eilish had to cancel her last tour because of COVID-19, giving her time to write her new debut album, Happier Than Ever. She played almost all of her new album and many songs from the earlier days of her career. Billie’s brother Finneas also starred in the concert, playing the guitar and drums in the background. He also sang the background vocals in all of the songs.

The opening song for the tour is “bury a friend”, an upbeat, unique song from her previous album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”. This was a fantastic tune to open with because it kept the crowd excited and energized. Near the end of the song, Billie performs her signature backbend at the top of the stage accompanied by flashing lights when she sings her lyric, “I wanna end me”. 

Billie played many of her fan-loved, classic songs like “idontwannabeyouanymore” and “ocean eyes”. I was pleased with her decision to still include many of her old songs on her setlist, as I had not attended any of her past tours. During her performance of “Oxytocin”, Billie engaged with the crowd by asking all of us to get all low as we could on the floor and start jumping up and down when she told us to, keeping the crowd engaged and excited.

One of my favorite parts was when she performed her new song “Getting Older”. It was an emotional moment because when Billie sang this song, there was a highlight reel of pictures of her and Finneas as children portrayed upon the big screen;. It was touching and memorable.

Another highlight for me was when Billie and Finneas both played “Your Power”. This song has a very deep meaning, and Billie and her brother made sure to make it a very raw, vulnerable moment by only playing acoustic guitar in the background while both sitting down on chairs next to each other. It was also different because we got to see Billie and Finneas next to each other and interacting, which was different from the rest of the songs.

By far my favorite moment of her performance was her closing performance of “Happier Than Ever”. Billie and Finneas put so much work and energy into this performance specifically and it turned out to be a completely magical moment. The song starts off with a quiet, laidback ukulele beat that Eilish quietly sings along to. But after about three minutes of the song, it quickly transitions into more of a rock beat. The whole crowd was screaming their hearts out when Eilish also screamed her lyric “I don’t relate to you”. Confetti was falling from the ceiling as Finneas rocked out on the guitar, jumping up and down along with Billie. 

Overall the tour was one of the best experiences of my life. The lights and background screens made it visually pleasing, and nothing can compare to the energy of the crowd members and Billie herself. She talked to the audience just the right amount and kept us entertained throughout the whole show, leaving us with memories we will never forget.