NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
For two consecutive nights in November, young fans of FINNEAS (AKA Finneas O’Connell, AKA Billie Eilish’s older brother and collaborator) could be found lined up for blocks around Irving Plaza. And why not? His debut studio album “Optimist” (released Oct 15, 2021) is stupendous. His charming good looks (kinda reminds me of a young Darryl Hall with the great hair) have his admirers swooning. Oh yeah, and he’s Billie’s brother. Since he writes a lot of the music with his sister, you know his own discography would be top notch. My favorite tracks off his new record include “Medieval”, “The Kids Are All Dying”, and “How It Ends”. Definitely check it out. You won’t regret it.
The evening started with marinelli, a singer/songwriter who used to play drums for…Billie Eilish. Besides his witty banter with the crowd, he had the attendees shouting “Fuck the supply chain!!”. I get that he’s having issues with his merch being delivered but it’s a bit contradictory to Finneas’s own take on the social issues including reducing everyone’s carbon footprint. Activism to support capitalism and people buying more stuff they don’t need doesn’t really jive with the environmental message.
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Only thing I want to say about Finneas’s set is that he definitely knows how to work the crowd. Coming down to hug the fans, taking a phone to take a crowd selfie, and climbing on top of the piano to sing and dance really drove the largely female crowd into a frenzy. Jumping from the top of the piano late in his set really looked like he was flying! I’ll let the pictures tell the story.
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