Billie Eilish brings Hit Me Hard and Soft tour to Pittsburgh

Pop star Billie Eilish transcended the arena setting Sunday night, putting on a display of intimacy among the almost 20,000 in attendance at a sold-out show at PPG Paints Arena.

An arena might not sound like the optimal choice for a concert overflowing with intense emotions, feelings and reflections, but the 22-year-old more than made it work as her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour stopped in Pittsburgh.

A deeply invested, heavily female crowd came ready to celebrate and party with Eilish, with some arriving Saturday and camping out near the arena. Long lines dotted the merch booths (including a truck in the parking lot), the wave broke out in the minutes before showtime, and fans came dressed in all of Eilish’s different eras.

At one point before “Wildflower,” the crowd hooted and hollered for more than a minute, with Eilish appearing to be moved by the display.

“You mean the world to me. I hope you never feel like I’m not there, ‘cause I’m always there,” she told the fans later in the night. “And I’ll always be there for you, and I’ll always fight for you and stand for you and support you in everything that you are.”

Eilish hit the stage promptly at 8:30 p.m. The stage setup in the middle of the arena featured a pair of recessed pits where Eilish’s band and backup singers performed. In the center of the stage, a platform ascended and descended, with a surrounding cage that doubled as a video screen. As the platform climbed, it turned transparent momentarily, revealing Eilish in the middle, as the show started with a thumping “Chihiro.”

Clad in a backward baseball hat, a Supreme hockey jersey covered in bones, gym shorts and sneakers, Eilish played eight songs from her latest album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” which came out in May, five from 2021’s “Happier Than Ever” and five from 2019’s “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,” with a few other sprinkled in.

Eilish used every inch of the stage, whether it was running the length of it during “Lunch” or staying at the middle mic stand for “Wildflower” as phone lights lit up the crowd. After getting the crowd to go absolutely silent while she layered her vocals for the beginning of “When the Party’s Over,” she laid flat on her back in the middle of the stage.

With the bass throbbing on “Bad Guy,” Eilish grabbed a handheld video camera, allowing for some first-person visuals. For “The Greatest,” Eilish returned to the platform, belting it out while laying flat with her head and hair hanging down over the edge. On “Male Fantasy” and “Skinny,” Eilish took the center stage along with backup singers Ava and Jane Horner.

“TV” felt like an alternative rocker, with Eilish on acoustic guitar and a huge crowd singalong of the chorus of “Maybe I’m the problem.” “Bury A Friend” featured pyro and some big-time stomping from Eilish, while “Oxytocin” ended with a sensory overload of lights, strobes and pyro.

That led Eilish to the secondary stage, where she performed her part of Charli XCX’s “Guess,” appropriately waving around a bra since the song features, ahem, conjectures about undergarments. A powerful “Everything I Wanted” started there, with Eilish grabbing the handheld cam again and taking a lap around the stage and high-fiving fans.

The medley of “Lovely,” “Idontwannabeyouanymore” and “Ocean Eyes” included Eilish, on a keyboard at the front of the stage, hitting several high notes as interesting water-themed visuals appeared on the floor/massive video screen, as it had done on several other songs.

“L’Amour De Ma Vie” afforded Eilish another opportunity to use the platform, dancing as it rose. Returning to the stage, she sat alone on one end for “What Was I Made For?,” the Grammy and Academy Award winner from the “Barbie” soundtrack.

After starting “Happier Than Ever” by herself, she strapped on an electric guitar for a bombastic ending as flames shot up. She closed with “Birds of A Feather,” with confetti shooting into the crowd.

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Indie pop brothers Nat and Alex Wolf started the night with a peppy, joyful set, with the duo bouncing between instruments with support from their backing band.

Highlights included a stripped-down version of “Soft Kissing Hour,” which was produced by Eilish and just dropped Friday, as well as a cathartic “All My Plans,” which had Nat drop to the floor near the crowd who helped out on the chorus.

“I finally figured out a way to force them to hang out with me all the time,” Eilish said during her set.