Billie Eilish - O2 Arena, London, 10/7/2025

  by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 17 / 8 / 2025

Whilst, for many, the return of Oasis will be the crowning event of 2025, for others of a younger generation, Billie Eilish's latest tour of the UK will be the perfect pop pageant!Playing the first of six dates at London's O2 Arena, the 23 year-old Californian was in her element as she skilfully combined spectacle with intimacy in front of a young, largely female crowd. The event was performed in the round on a stage the size of a five-a-side football pitch and it was presented in a way that ensured Billie was never too far from her fans, thus cementing a sense of community. With her four piece band (which, on this occasion, did not include her brother Finneas who is back in California promoting his own very successful musical career) and her backing singers Ava and Jane Horner stationed inside two sunken pits onstage, there was plenty of scope for Billie to roam freely. She took every advantage of this, bounding energetically with arms aloft along the entire span of the venue. With knee-length shorts, simple Comme Des Garcons top and a baseball cap, Billie almost raised the roof as she made her entrance atop a flashing black and white cube suspended above the stage. “I'm so lucky to get to do this, and so lucky to do it with you,” she told her fans, adding, “Who'd have ever thought I'd be here – in London – someday?” However, from the performance that followed, it was quickly clear that, despite her modesty, Billie Eilish is in one of the UK's biggest arenas entirely on merit. Her songs, once a bit gloomy and introspective in her early career, are now rich, varied and at times quite sophisticated. ‘Wildflower’ was beautifully sung and two part break-up song ‘L'Amour De Ma Vie’ was also brilliantly performed. Rather like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish is adept at playing to the venue's video cameras which relay footage from the stage to Jumbotron screens in real time. For ‘Bad Guy’, she held the camera herself, filming the band as she sang. And ‘For When The Party's Over’, she sat cross-legged, creating her own vocal harmonies with an Ed Sheeran-style loop pedal. Where once Billie's voice was a husky whisper, now she confidently uses her full vocal range, trading harmonies with Ava and Jane Horner on ‘Skinny’ and duetting with Charli XCX who appeared on a pre-recorded video link on ‘Guess’. The powerful beats of her more rhythmic numbers are impressive, but Billie really came into her own on her melancholic ballads. One of these, ‘What Was I Made For?’ was a true highlight. Written for Greta Gerwig's /Barbie’ and crowned best original song at last year's Oscars, this song was performed with real feeling by Billie – accompanied by her thousands of fans. It was the best moment of a very impressive night.

Band Links:-

Play in YouTube:-

Have a Listen:-

Picture Gallery:-