Halsey: Manic Tour 2020

8th March 2020
at The O2 Arena, London.

I would've followed all the way to the graveyard...


On Sunday 8th March, also known as International Women's Day, I went with a friend to see Halsey perform her Manic Tour at the The O2, and what an incredible night it was.

When we arrived at North Greenwich underground we found the 'All On The Board' and read what they had compiled for Halsey's concert (image right). I love reading the All On The Board's as they construct messages out of the events of the night. They are dotted all around London stations and you can usually find them near big event arenas. Alongside Halsey's board they also had a board featuring a poem contributed by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. You can follow them on Instagram @allontheboard.

As always before the venue opens its doors I look forward to exploring The O2 and what it has to offer. Of course my friend and I visited the Merchandise stall before anything. Halsey's merch for the tour was really eclectic, she had beige, pastel blues and even tie-dye t-shirts and jumper designs; I really liked that she was selling reusable tote bags too.

We then explored the outlet at The O2; they have opened more stores and we perused the shops for a while, trying to avoid buying too much. After this we had a few hours to spare so we chose to eat at Wagamama's (there are tons of food places to check out and choose between) before we headed in to Sky Backstage.

Sky Backstage opens one hour before the venue doors. Once inside, through which you pass the usual security procedures and receive a wristband (that you can plant, yes plant, after you've finished with it!), there is plenty to do. You can have your photo taken, get festival style glitter applied to your face, drink and eat in the comfort of their Blue Room, which is directly behind the stage. We got to experience the Forever Room, a room filled head to toe with mirrored walls, once inside you wore headphones and watched a cool display of different films that had been edited together to make a trailer for Sky Cinema. It was a really interesting amalgamation of sci-fi movies from alien to superheroes to disaster genres.

Pale Waves were the opening act for Halsey and came on about 7.30pm. We didn't get to the see them live as we were in Sky Backstage but as that was behind the stage we could hear them in all their glory. I'll admit I had not heard of them before the night but they sounded really good and since then have been checking them out on Spotify. Pale Waves are an indie pop rock band from Manchester and have grown a niche following ever since their first performance.

Halsey came on at 8.30pm and by then we were in our seats in the arena and very excited for the show we were about to see. We had really good seats and a great view of the stage. She opened up with Nightmare, one of my favourite newer songs and it was an amazing show-opener. It kicked off the night on a high where everyone was out of their seats singing and dancing along to Halsey rocking out on stage. She kept this level of excitement with Castle as her second song. Halsey holds a tradition with her song Castle by stopping after the first verse to re-do the whole performance, this got the crowd to a whole new level of enjoyment and everyone went mental.

Her stage set up was really cool, when I last saw her in 2018 at the Eventim Apollo in London she had a similar set up, where the stage was displayed in a staircase-like manner, with three different levels which allowed people to see Halsey perform on different layers with different meanings behind the songs. This time round Halsey added a huge LED screen behind to display vivid colours and lyrics and graphics to her performances throughout the night. I really loved this simplicity of this as it meant it was just her and the crowd, no one being distracted by things on the back screen and it meant everyone could see the same thing; unlike some shows where if you're sitting too high you're unable to see the back of the stage.

Halsey performed most of the songs from her recent album Manic, but also performed hits from her previous albums and fan favourites, some of my favourite moments of the night included Colours, 3am, and her debut performance of Experiment On Me from the Birds of Prey (2020) soundtrack. She had the audience captivated from the offset and between songs Halsey would describe what life is like for her, what gave her the inspiration for various songs and what she's looking forward to in the future. She mentioned that she is stepping back from touring to experience and enjoy life for herself. She was funny and she was very real about her feelings.

My friend and I had an absolutely incredible night at The O2 and Halsey's tour was fantastic. Everyone left the venue smiling and wanting more, and it was great to see the artist really enjoying their show too. Halsey was saying that performing was giving her such meaning and that she wished she could perform all night if specific time management would allow.

Are any of you a fan of Halsey and have seen her on tour? What's your favourite song of hers? Leave a comment down below.

Enjoy x