MUSIC PREMIERES
You’d be forgiven for having a sense of déjà vu walking up to the last of Billie Eilish’s six nights at London’s The O2. Three summers ago, the pop star first held a six-night residency at this same venue, then celebrating her second album, ‘Happier Than Ever’. Thanks to the pandemic addling our collective sense of time, it seems far too soon for her to be back for another stint – and selling it out – but here Eilish is, nonetheless, concluding another successful run.
It might not feel like much time has passed since, but much has changed. For a start, Eilish’s brother Finneas no longer tours with her, his absence filled by an expanded band. On occasion, Eilish gets to show off her skills on various instruments now. During a medley of ‘Lovely’, ‘Blue’ and ‘Ocean Eyes’, she sits down at a keyboard at the end of the stage, while the roaring penultimate track ‘Happier Than Ever’ sees her strap on a blue electric guitar and, as the song reaches its thundering crescendo, get down on her knees and shred.
The staging, too, is more ambitious and more impressive. Eilish performs in the middle of the floor, rather than on a typical stage at one end of the room. Her platform is giant, with space for two pits for her band and a gap in the middle where, sometimes, a cube of screens rises up and down – at times, a blindingly bright wall of light, at others, a cage from which Eilish performs within. The whole stage is covered in LED panels that change colour or show different graphics – during ‘Lunch’, the star’s image is repeated both across the screens that hang above it and all over the floor beneath her.
Performing in the round is a clever production move that puts her closer to the audience and whips up the hysteria to even giddier heights. To get to the stage, she can no longer rely on backstage corridors, but has to be carried through the crowd in a box. By now, fans are wise to this, so when they see Eilish’s crew start making their way to the path to the stage, they rush to the barriers and scream their lungs out. Throughout the show, she goes right to the very edges of the platform, almost within arm’s reach of the audience, who stretch out to her in hopes of making contact.
Towards the end of the night, Charli XCX’s face covers the stage as ‘Guess’ booms over the PA, Eilish suddenly out of view. Just as her verse in the ‘Brat’ collaboration begins, she pops up on a b-stage at the end of the room, ready to whip her hair and rave above the fans in that area. She remains there for a heartfelt ‘Everything I Wanted’ before racing back through the crowd, taking the time to do a lap and touch palms with as many people on the front rows as possible.
She takes mishaps in her stride – during ‘Ocean Eyes’, she starts cracking up, eventually throwing herself from her stool and rolling across the stage. “I really spaced out for a second, sorry guys,” she laughs afterwards. “I was thinking about all sorts of things that weren’t that song.” Eilish’s performances have always straddled the line between pop pro and watching your mate, and rather than this being a disappointing moment, her candour and charisma swing the pendulum to the latter state once more.
There’s still plenty of that slick pop professionalism, though. Before ‘When The Party’s Over’, she sits cross-legged in the middle of the stage and makes a request of the crowd. “I’m using a loop on my voice and creating a harmony stack,” she begins to explain. “It can only work if the entire room is completely silent for one minute.” Her fans dutifully respond until, harmonies layered, she begins to sing the first note of the song, and the room erupts with screams once more.
“I’m so grateful to have gotten to play here for six nights in a row,” she tells the crowd before her grand finale. “It’s a very special honour and I’m so lucky to get to do this with you guys and have this life and have this connection.” She waxes lyrical about her relationship with London – the place she played her first-ever headline show as a 15-year-old in 2017 – and touches on where her journey has taken her since. “It’s insane where it’s gone and where it is now.”
As if to reinforce that point, she finishes the show with ‘Birds Of A Feather’, the world-beating love song that forms one of the key highlights of her latest album, ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’. It’s the perfect example of how Eilish has grown in the last three years and since the start of her career – always an artist who’s been able to write killer songs, but one who consistently finds a way to level up and tap deeper into universal emotions. Her latest O2 residency may be over now, but next time we see Eilish in London, we bet it’ll be with shows – and songs – that take her to even greater heights.
‘Chihiro’
‘Lunch’
‘NDA’
‘Therefore I Am’
‘Wildflower’
‘When The Party’s Over’
‘The Diner’
‘ilomilo’
‘Bad Guy’
‘The Greatest’
‘Your Power’
‘Skinny’
‘Halley’s Comet’
‘Bury A Friend’
‘Oxytocin’
‘Guess’
‘Everything I Wanted’
‘Lovely’ / ‘Blue’ / ‘Ocean Eyes’
‘L’amour De Ma Vie’
‘What Was I Made For?’
‘Happier Than Ever’
‘Birds Of A Feather’
MUSIC PREMIERES
“I’m looking for an answer in between the lines/ Lying to yourself if you think we’re fine,” Sabrina Carpenter sings while seated gracefully on a toilet.
It is the opening night of her “Short n’ Sweet” tour at what she proudly described as “five fucking sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden.” The toilet appears within the bathroom section of her expansive stage design, which resembles a cross between a 1970s television set and a Barbie-inspired dream house from the same decade.
More importantly, Carpenter performs a heartfelt ballad, one of her signature songs blending humor and honesty in her storytelling about relationships. The track, “Sharpest Tool,” reflects on being in love with someone lacking awareness, serving as a thematic successor to her recent hit “Please Please Please.”
The toilet itself is an elegant prop with a heart-shaped lid, while the “bathroom” area is surrounded by sheer screens that display close-up video projections of her performance. Few major female pop artists today would likely deliver a serious song in such a setting. It highlights Carpenter’s willingness to approach familiar ideas with originality and confidence.
With her classic American glamour, Carpenter maintains a striking image while writing songs that address relationships and intimacy with unfiltered honesty. Those themes are presented within polished, radio-ready pop production that still holds musical depth. The pre-show playlist included ABBA’s 1979 track “If It Wasn’t for the Nights” and Diana Ross’ 1980 hit “I’m Coming Out,” acknowledging both her stylistic influences and her strong LGBTQ following.
Her audience consists largely of young girls who may not yet relate directly to the personal experiences behind her lyrics but view her as a relatable, older-sister figure. Many of their parents, especially mothers accompanying them, also appeared to be fans. One of the night’s more unexpected moments came when Carpenter led thousands of middle-school-aged fans in singing the explicit lyric “I’m so fucking horny!” during “Juno.”
The show, mostly following the same structure as her previous tour, featured the full production scale of a modern arena concert. The visual theme of vintage television carried through as Carpenter performed across multiple areas of the set, including a balcony, staircase, walk-in closet, and in front of a vanity and fireplace, supported by 11 dancers and a live four-piece band.
She changed outfits four times throughout the concert, each one sparkling and styled to highlight her signature stage presence. The setlist focused mainly on her latest albums, “Short n’ Sweet” and “Man’s Best Friend,” while including several tracks from her 2022 record “Emails I Can’t Send,” which marked her transition into a mature artistic phase. The show opened with “Taste,” included highlights such as “Manchild,” “Feather,” and “Bed Chem,” and concluded with “Espresso” during a colorful confetti finale.
Between songs, the screens played comedic 1970s-inspired mock commercials, including a parody tool advertisement using the line “The Sharpest Tool, trusted by carpenters everywhere.” The presentation also featured a fabricated “Technical Difficulties” interruption and an excerpt from a Leonard Cohen interview in which he compared writing poetry to “shining the shoes of one’s soul.” The concept was imaginative and visually engaging, though much of the nostalgia predates her audience’s generation. Still, it reflected Carpenter’s ability to merge vintage aesthetics with contemporary performance.
The most memorable parts of the concert came from her natural connection with the crowd. Familiar interactive moments filled the show, including audience singalongs, call-and-response sections, and a “surprise song” feature in which Carpenter spun a bottle to select a number, leading to a live debut of “Go-Go Juice” from her new album. She also spoke candidly with the audience, remarking that she had “been one of you” during her years living in New York, before adding, “Actually, I’ve tried to be one of you.”
Her awareness of the audience’s enthusiasm was evident throughout. She acknowledged fans directly, often gesturing toward specific sections and offering warm appreciation. Near the end, she took time to praise their creativity, saying, “I want to take a second to commend all of the amazing outfits I see.” She expressed gratitude for the crowd’s effort and enthusiasm, recognizing the fans who mirrored her signature style with platform heels, glitter, and lipstick marks on their shoulders.
From artists such as Cher, Donna Summer, and Deborah Harry to Madonna, Beyoncé, and others, many women in pop music have explored the boundaries of expression and sexuality in their art. Sabrina Carpenter continues that tradition with confidence, balancing playfulness and self-awareness while maintaining authenticity and respect for her audience.
