I’ve always been interested in ‘pop’ music so out of curiosity I tuned into watch Billie Eilish perform at the Leeds festival last night. I’ve heard one or two of her songs and thought they were OK but unremarkable and was interested to see what she could do.
Massive crowd obviously, all singing along to her songs, most of which seemed rather depressing.
But..
It was obvious she was performing to a backing track and not singing or playing ‘live’ most of the time. She would point her mic at the crown but her vocals could still be heard, her brother would play a bass or acoustic guitar and be accompanied by keyboards or harmonies that were clearly pre recorded. She did ‘sing’ over the backing track and her brother did play guitar but it was very clear that most of what was being ‘performed’ wasn’t being played live. There was one section where her brother was playing some electronic drums and not hitting the instrument at all but the drum beat continued.
What I don’t understand is why this didn’t matter to her audience. They seemed deliriously happy to be in her presence and watch her pretend to be live. This I don’t understand. Her music isn’t complicated and she can clearly sing her songs so why not get a band together and some backing singers and perform the songs live?
I’m not decrying her abilities or her popularity. I just don’t understand why she performs in an artificial manner.
Ps, wasn’t that impressed by her music either!
