Next Big Pop Star Billie Eilish Proves She's Worth the Hype at Schubas Tavern

She’s got more than 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify. She has nearly sold out every date on her first ever headlining tour. She is poised as the next big pop star. She joined the Los Angeles Children’s Choir at eight years old. Did we mention she’s only 15?

Billie Eilish (née Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell) gained a legion of fans with her viral hit “ocean eyes” last year. She is currently on tour promoting her EP “don’t smile at me”with her brother, co-writer, producer, and tour mate Finneas O’Connell. The sold out show at Schubas Tavern consisted of mostly younger fans crammed towards the front of the stage through Thutmose’s set, awaiting the pop prodigy’s entrance. The talented duo–neither of whom are legal adults–opened the set with gloomy, bass-heavy “COPYCAT” amidst flickering lights. They slowed the set down with “idontwannabeyouanymore” before getting more intense with “watch.” Between sets, Billie revealed that she lost her voice the night before and couldn’t hit any of the high notes–which up until that point would have been a surprise to the fans singing along and hanging onto her every word.

Billie brought some playfulness to her set with a rendition of Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” which she performed while playing the ukulele. Eilish brought a mixture of ethereal, angelically voiced slower-tempo songs and darker, intense electropop from her EP. She ended her regular set with “ocean eyes,” and psyched out the crowd when she returned to play “bellyache” for her encore. The talented singer-songwriter commanded the room through waves of tempos, filled with dramatic dance moves and cheeky facial expressions. Her dark lyrics and playful performance are reminiscent of a Tarantino movie, complete with content far beyond her years on earth. With a live show even more impressive than her infectious repertoire of songs, Eilish more than lives up to the hype.