This year there will be no better concert than Billie Eilish's at the Palau Sant Jordi.

Barcelona[The photograph illustrating this report is from Billie Eilish's concert in Paris on June 11, and was provided by the promoter Live Nation with the approval of the American artist, who does not authorize the presence of press photographers or television cameras on this tour]

One of the best shows, without a doubt. For the performance, for the naturalness, for the repertoire, for the staging and for Billie Eilish's communication with the audience, and that of the audience with Billie Eilish. A day of great expectation for the first of two concerts by the Californian artist at the Palau Sant Jordi, with everything sold out for months. As the Sónar festival said goodbye to the Montjuïc fairgrounds, up the mountain the enthusiasm was an energy that could almost be touched with your fingers. The audience welcomed the American artist at 8:13 p.m. with the kind of appreciative shouts bestowed upon truly important stars, and bid her farewell with even greater intensity at 9:48 p.m. The best-used hour and a half of the year, featuring songs that are cried in the intimacy of a bedroom and filled with grief, and danced to in a club and filled with catharsis.

Eilish was already relevant six years ago, when she was just 17 and a debutante. that filled the Palau Sant Jordi. Already then he had established an unbreakable generational connection thanks to the album When we all fall asleep, where do we go?, and everything he has done since has consolidated his status, always with notable artistic results, such as the magnificent album Hit me hard and soft (2024), one of the best of last year according to ARAAt just 23, she's won nine Grammy Awards and two Oscars, and the way she's developing her career suggests she'll be an artist with a long history. Despite being connected to the heartbeat of Generation Z, she has few temporary limitations, and both her songwriting and performance have a foundation that comes from afar, from the great American songbook. Pop with dramatic depth and youthful freshness, and without a dance troupe or choreography, an almost countercultural approach for someone born in the 21st century.

An exemplary setting

The staging was well worth it: the stage in the middle of the dance floor (like at Roger Waters concerts), with a box in the center on which Billie Eilish appeared to sing Chihiro (her and the entire audience), while the musicians were spread out on either side of two square pits. It quickly became clear that in this case the staging had been created with intention and skill, especially in the lighting. And hanging from the ceiling was a cube with four screens that combined concert images and graphic resources, which then expanded to form two more cubes. Attentive to the audience, the Californian walked and ran around the perimeter of the stage. She also descended to the musicians' areas, to convey that she wasn't alone in this adventure. She even filmed them to show them on the screens.

By the second song, Lunch, she already had Sant Jordi singing and jumping. It was a shame that at first the sound clouded her voice, which wasn't clear enough, a problem that was soon solved. Eilish's smile was one of absolute satisfaction. And confidence. In a pause, without saying anything, simply smiling, she received an impressive ovation. "How are you?" she asked, and the acoustic guitar opened the ballad. Wildflower. A respectful silence unusual in this type of large-scale concerts accompanied the vocal subtlety of When the party's over, which the singer began sitting like someone telling a story in front of a bonfire, and ended it lying down like someone searching for explanations in the stars. It's one of the songs in which Eilish makes the most of the different registers of her voice, accompanied by two backing singers and the sound of the keyboard. But it's not the only one. In others, she brings a very interesting drama, never overacted, which she modulates by mastering the dynamics of the microphone.

She is an extraordinary performer in whispers and breathy singing, but also when melodrama inflames, as in The greatest, who sang perched on the box, which had become a swing that went up and down. Right after, she had the two chorus girls come out of the pit to sing together. Your powerEilish also plays acoustic guitar. "Try not to abuse your power," the first verse says. She doesn't, despite having 18,000 people in attendance (according to data provided by Live Nation). With the same intensity, she delivered Skinny, one of the most exciting ballads on the latest album.

Again with the musicians in the pit, he sang Oxytocin, with obsessive rhythms, with the drums punishing bass drum and snare, and a more nocturnal energy, which continued with Guess, the song she recorded with Charli XCX, which she performed from a small stage at one end of the dance floor. It was a moment of disco fever, which also soaked a Everything I wanted during which Eilish filmed herself walking through the audience towards the main stage. The level of satisfaction felt at Sant Jordi was difficult to compare with anything else. Another proof: the shouting that preceded The love of my life, a capital pop that sings with a soulful flavor. It's not easy to find a pop idol as consistent as Billie Eilish.

In this final part, in which she said a few words to regret the violence that is taking place these days in Los Angeles and other places around the world, songs that define the height and uniqueness of the Californian were played. For example, the exciting What was y made for?, which leads to a crescendo without any stridency and projecting voice and breath with a very special technique. Happier than ever, sung from beginning to end and sustained by the punctuated chords of the acoustic guitar until the voice explodes, accompanied by a resounding bass. And finally, Birds of a feather, atmospheric pop beyond perfection. She sings everything with prodigious naturalness, without dramatic overacting. That's why she connects with the audience so directly, because she avoids theatrical simulation. Obviously, there's theater involved, because she repeats the same thing in every concert, but she allows the audience to experience it as a unique gift without being explicitly told that it's a unique gift. "I love you so much!" she had exclaimed. She needs no more. This year there will be no better concert than Billie Eilish's at the Palau Sant Jordi, and it's quite possible that many people will remember it as the concert of a lifetime.