Review: Billie Eilish at Lollapalooza in a fearless if uneven headlining concert

If you ever experience self-doubt, uncertainty, mistreatment, sadness, alienation, shame or confusion, Billie Eilish sang you a tune Thursday at her headlining performance on the opening night of Lollapalooza in Grant Park in Chicago. Taking the stage after an enthusiastic introduction by Mayor Brandon Johnson, the vocalist showed the city respect by modeling a black Michael Jordan Bulls jersey.

The uniform proved a fitting choice for Eilish, who spent a portion of the uneven 85-minute concert bounding and gliding about as if playing offense and defense on the court. Hand on hip, she talked trash by way of her exaggerated prance and swagger. In other instances, she sat down on an angled platform or crouched on the runway, flashing the same look of defeat and exhaustion as a player who fouled out of a game.

Along with Kendrick Lamar, Eilish represents the most significant “get” on this year’s Lollapalooza bill. Though her most recent album dates to July 2021, many eyes remain on the record-breaking singer who is only a few months removed from wrapping up a global tour and less than five months away from turning 22. Currently working on a highly anticipated third LP, she satiated fans’ initial curiosity last summer with the surprise-release “Guitar Songs” EP.

[ Lollapalooza Day 1: Billie Eilish a fan favorite on opening day — and 2023 is a big year for K-pop ]

More recently, Eilish landed the marquee hit (“What Was I Made For?”) from the blockbuster “Barbie” film — a triumph that follows her chart-topping theme to the last James Bond movie. The stylized video for the “Barbie” track extends an Eilish trademark that seems to hold as much importance to the California native as music: strong visuals.

Eilish has always loved optics. She already counts two full-length films (the documentary “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” and concert feature “Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles”) to her credit. Besides, her 109 million Instagram followers need visual content in their feeds.

During a pause on Thursday, Eilish explained her new hair color and gushed about dying her roots red. She expressed similar delight over being able to play with her brother and creative partner, Finneas O’Connell, who handled guitar and keyboard duties. Eilish also spoke of her first Lollapalooza appearance in 2018 and thanked her parents. If you’re thinking those sentiments seldom pair together, you’d be right. But this wasn’t a typical festival-headlining concert.

For starters, Eilish often opted for a subdued sonic approach at odds with the high-energy affairs associated with Lollapalooza’s prime slots. Even her electronically based songs operated with an understated cool, the equivalent of a pack of older teenagers huddled and smoking outside a convenience store, jacket collars pulled high and hats slung low to conceal their faces. Fueled by snarling and spare bass lines and creeping synthesizers, the arrangements pointed to ominous inclinations and nightmarish scenarios.

Eilish’s aural noir pulsed with tension and anticipation. It seldom offered a complete release or peaceable conclusion. Rhythms contorted and twitched; insular beats rumbled and snapped; tweaked keyboard lines sounded like water drops. On-screen projections glitched and distorted in step with the music, suggesting brokenness, doom, illness, user error. Songs could have come with a warning: Dance at your own risk.

Along with drummer Andrew Marshall, Eilish and her sibling produced the claustrophobic trappings and electropop vibes via minimalist instrumentation. Fare such as the sly “I Didn’t Change My Number” and ruthless “You Should See Me in a Crown,” on which Eilish assumed control of situations, reconfigured lo-fi bedroom pop for a stadium environment. Breathy, haunted, conversational: Eilish’s deliveries vacillated between sung-spoken boasts and fragile musings.

At times, however, it felt like Eilish was singing karaoke along to her own songs. An overreliance on prerecorded backing tracks — particularly during vocal blooms and choruses — robbed Eilish of rawness. Amid these moments, she lacked immediacy and flirted with artifice. And while there was nothing simulated about her sitting with her head drooped between her legs for “Ilomilo,” the sullen posture ran counter to the celebratory atmosphere.

Ditto Eilish’s acoustic set and smattering of basic ballads. Though they didn’t dare stray from convention, both pursuits found the singer sharpening her focus and peeling away protective layers. She scolded abusers and exploiters on the feminist-steeped “Your Power” with soft tones that proved quiet can register volumes louder than screaming; on the melodic “TV,” she touched on vital issues such as body image, abortion rights and relationship equality before repeating “maybe I’m the problem.”

The more uncomfortable or difficult the subject, the more Eilish succeeded. Her beautiful, bracing rendition of “What Was I Made For?” simultaneously challenged customs and expressed insecurity. Few Lollapalooza headliners expose themselves in such a vulnerable manner — or sung with such audible inhale-exhale discipline. Eilish’s fearlessness stamped the downscale “When the Party’s Over” with related purpose.

Those bursts of maturity and depth juxtaposed segments that lacked substance or, at the least, demanded more attention and investment. Eilish truncated several songs. The snippets — including “All the Good Girls Go to Hell,” pertinent given the excruciating heat and wildfires across the globe this summer — came across as hurried, disposable filler.

Most of Eilish’s banter left a similar impression of emptiness. Instructing audience members to get low and jump (never the wisest idea when thousands are already smashed together), scream and introduce themselves to a neighbor reeked of cliché. Leading yoga-inspired breathing exercises fared no better.

A climate activist, Eilish mentioned her set was powered by a temporary solar farm but gave short shrift to the topic. Turns out she had more on her mind.

“What’s the point of anything?,” a resigned Eilish asked on “TV.” Watching and hearing her search for answers to variations on that eternal question throughout the evening didn’t always hit the mark. Then again, as Eilish frequently implied, nothing good — especially happiness — comes easy.

Bob Gendron is a freelance critic.

Setlist from Lollapalooza Aug. 3, 2023:

“Bury a Friend”

“I Didn’t Change My Number”

“NDA”

“Therefore I Am”

“My Strange Addiction”

“Idontwannabeyouanymore / Lovely”

“You Should See Me in a Crown”

“Goldwing”

“What Was I Made For?”

“Oxytocin”

“Ilomilo”

“I Love You / Your Power”

“TV”

“Bellyache / Ocean Eyes”

“Lost Cause”

“Never Felt So Alone” (Labrinth cover)

“When the Party’s Over”

“All the Good Girls Go to Hell”

“Everything I Wanted”

“Bad Guy”

“Happier Than Ever”