HHow can an artist who has achieved superstar status maintain the intimacy on which his career is built? For Billie Eilish, it's a tricky dance and trajectory that I've seen firsthand. Around the beginning of 2016, an invitation to a performance by an artist that a publicist was really looking forward to appeared in my email. “Hello darling,” the message said. “I'm just wondering: Have you had a chance to see 14-year-old Billie Eilish?” With that, I headed to a basement room on the Lower East Side of New York City and witnessed one of her earliest performances. It was an impressive display of performance and songwriting. How could this girl be 14 and Is it good?

In many ways, what Eilish has done over the last eight years makes her a stunning exception to the cutthroat world Here today, gone today Industry while inviting people into their minds and homes. I don't need to tell you about her achievements and ubiquity, there's no need to rehash her string of awards. You've probably heard the tender first lines in the form of “When did it end…” from “What Was I Made For?”; a culturally defining song from a culturally defining movie more times than you can count. The talent is obvious and is drummed into our heads on a regular basis.

You probably also know that she released an album earlier this year in which she switched from the emo sound that characterized her to the fluffy Birds of a Feather. Changing your sound is a death trap for any artist, but not for Eilish; it brought her even more success. She won me over even more with her seemingly more bubbly personality; “Birds of a Feather” is perfect for a pool party; Music that's a lot more fun than her previous hits about darker topics like depression. In many ways, her three-night stay at Madison Square Garden, which leads into her fourth appearance on Saturday Night Live later this week, feels like a well-earned victory lap.

Eilish lore has it that she is the ultimate bedroom artist; In the modest Highland Park home she shared with her parents as she became a household name, she invented her sound like a mad scientist. With that in mind, she carried that intimacy over to the arena stage, which was barely there aside from two pits of musicians and some fancy projections (including crashing waves while she performed “Ocean Eyes”). And if you were wondering whether the arena was lit up for a performance of her sensual and somewhat immature performance in brat green, you'd guess right.

In 2016, I still remember walking down a quiet, dark staircase to blend in with the scattered crowd. To attend her first night at the Garden, I needed at least four escalators to get inside. As I walked, I noticed that the crowd was clearly made up of Eilish followers; most girls her age who probably grew up with her; Many dressed exactly in their baggy retro style. (For these girls, EIlish is a style icon, for better or worse.) Fittingly, even the merchandise for the Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour reflected this similar vibe: bright yellow T-shirts (retail price $50) and oversized hoodies ($125). . ) with bold, over-the-top designs seemingly borrowed from the playbook of early '90s hip-hop bands like the Beastie Boys and NWA.

Wearing a knit hat, an oversized olive green button-down jacket, baggy black shorts and chunky black boots, she appeared ready for battle; appears on a giant digital rectangle. Right off the bat she experienced a number of hits; one at a time in quick succession to keep the crowd on their toes. Her control over the audience was evident as pyrotechnics sparkled. The fury of a song like “Frsher I Am” (with a chorus that sings “I'm not your friend…”) was complemented by fireballs exploding around them as their dutiful crowd sang along to every syllable. Eilish is the master of playful confidence, a quality he puts on full display.

“Hello guys…” she said with the same enthusiasm as someone meeting up with a few friends; Regardless of whether the attitude was intended to be friendly or not, it worked before leading to passionate musical outbursts that were welcomed with open arms and also demonstrated command. I couldn't help but remember Eilish's recent comments in which she noted that making an audience sit through a three-hour show was “literally psychotic.” I prepared myself for a quick in and out. But if you were expecting brevity, Eilish doesn't deliver that either: the current setlist includes 26 songs, making it so varied that the TikTok generation is turning heads; The concert flew by. It moved fast and furiously.

At one point, after a long day, she laid down as if she were lying on her living room floor; She instructed the audience to remain quiet as she recorded and layered looped vocals to create a harmony of the aforementioned “When the Party's Over.” I felt like I should be lying on a nearby couch. She then ordered complete silence and of course, barring some misguided pleading, she didn't let the audience down. It made for another intimate moment in which she showed off her vocal prowess; an outsider quality of immense talent.

And just as she invited a few friends over for a relaxing Friday night at home, she did the same with a duo she introduced as Ava and Jane to sing Male Fantasy; Friends she wanted to take with her on tour. Another special guest was Finneas; Eilish brought her brother (who recently released his second solo album For Cryin' Out Loud) for what was probably her millionth rendition of “What Was I Made For?” It was like watching someone sing Jingle Bells at a Christmas show. Maybe it's important, but after hearing it so many times it almost becomes too much; a bittersweet trap of omnipresence.

Eilish made sure to reflect on how grateful she was to her fans (“You're so deep in my heart”). She knows full well that these are the people who helped her rise from her parents' house and small clubs to a modern form of global fame that few ever achieve, and who at the same time managed to keep her the intimacy that effectively making them popular. It was an intimacy that she somehow successfully translated into the so-called “most famous arena in the world.” Some people get lost in it, but Eilish considered it her living room. Needless to say, it was fun to come over and hang out.