Show Review: She Calls It Her “Last Trick” — But Halsey’s Got Plenty Up Their Sleeve
Halsey
w/ Del Water Gap, The Warning
Toyota Pavilion at Concord
Concord, CA
May 10th, 2025
Review by Tawni Kuhn
Let’s set the scene: the weather sits near a sizzling ninety degrees. A line of teens snakes through the parking lot of the Toyota Pavilion at Concord, many in their aughties best (we couldn’t help but notice those iconic long scarves making an appearance, even in this heat). Many swap friendship bracelets, snag limited edition shirts from the merch booth, and eagerly speculate about the show.
The show. Halsey’s “For My Last Trick”, and the first of the tour, which kicked off in Concord on Saturday, May 10th. I overhear:
“What do you think they’ll play? “
“I heard Halsey’s doing something that’s never been seen before.”
“One of the security guards said she’s been here for days prepping for this show. He’s never seen anything like it.”
I couldn’t help but recall a quote from Halsey’s more intimate Bay Area show a few months prior. “Stadium Halsey is scary,” they said, through a laugh. Scary is not the word I would use, but rather dedicated. And it’s certainly apparent from the moment the lights went out at 9PM.
Onto the first act: Halsey’s Alice falls down the rabbit hole.
We open with a visual of Alice weaving their way through a lush, green garden in a blue baby doll dress. Visibly curiouser and curiouser, it seems, right as she finds a hole and enters. In Art Deco style, Alice tumbles endlessly, her fall mirrored on the screens flanking the stage. “Darwinism” begins—performed live for the first time with Halsey behind a piano.
[I wanna be big!]
The curtain falls, and we meet the White Rabbit, who will be helping Alice through her fantastical journey. She wants to “be big”, and we meet her there metaphorically with a larger-than-life, Dita Von Teese–inspired performance, complete with martini glass, set to both “Bad At Love” and “Alone”. Sexy. Vegas. Big.
[Alice feels too big!]
As we witness the meteoric rise of many stars, so too do we see the inevitable fall—beautifully captured in “Lucky.” The video transitions to scenes of Alice, clearly out of place in her surroundings. The walls feel tight, everything slightly off, evoking a sense of discomfort. She seems too big for the space she’s in—a metaphor for how overwhelming success can make the world feel small, drawing what we can assume are striking parallels to Halsey’s own life, career, and fame. Yet, power and control surfaces in what I think is likely the sexiest performance we’ve seen to date.
Bound to a checkerboard platform, Halsey kicks off her BDSM-inspired segment. Dressed in a sultry leather fit, she arches her back, bathed in striking red light. Overlooked by dobermans on the screen, her voice softly lilts “Dog Years” – their dark, smoldering song that plays on the indulgence she wants to experience in her short life full of love, sex, and “cake”.
My friend texts me from another section: "I’m absolutely gagged." I reply that I’m barking like a dog, echoing the earlier Doberman visuals. Two of Halsey’s dancers sit on all fours, legs and thighs pressed together in a sensual formation. Halsey’s microphone pins between her dancers, and she spreads her fingers over their bodies. The audience is wrapped around her routine, especially when her ensemble introduces rope play during the next number. 10/10 (though part of me was holding out hope for one of her latest, “Safe Word”, during this portion of the show).
[Alice feels too small]
Halsey-as-Alice ushers in the witching hour. A large arch towers as the new centerpiece. Mangled trees loom dark in the background. As “Angel on Fire” builds to its crescendo—And I'm fading away, you know I used to be on fire—flames erupt along the front edge of the stage. Real pyrotechnics blaze to life, casting a glow that makes it appear as though the dancers are moving against the flames. The fire doesn’t wane—it lingers through, a delicate trim like burning lace, as she sinks into “Arsonist.”
[Alice has had enough]
The energy shifts, and we glide into dreamy, otherworldly Art Nouveau visuals. Halsey, adorned in a flouncy white dress, lounges against a two-faced moon as they croon “Panic Attack”, with her ensemble telling their story through contemporary dance. This side is currently bright and optimistic, but the moon’s face flips during “Graveyard”. It gives the song a gentle, needed touch of melancholy.
For Halsey’s final theatrical number, “Only Living Girl in LA”, we see her in front of a cloudy backdrop, playing the guitar. They sing, “It’s the first show of the tour tonight in Concord,” She’s met with enthusiastic cheers. “They will always show for me. I didn’t sleep last night because I was way too nervous. But you guys sold out every seat.”
From here, we get the one lull of the show, a 5-minute break with a nice About Face plug. Fortunately, it has quite the pay-off, with the reveal of Blue-Haired Halsey. “What are you doing?” she scolds at her sleeping form. “Wake. UP. We have a show to do.” Welcome to act ii: the show.
Which is just that. And not to trivialize–it should be that way at times, in that no filter kind of way. Just her and her band. Halsey manages to make this large venue show intimate in nature. With an ease that, and not to compare, other artists might find it difficult to achieve, especially after following such a theatrical first act. Much of it comes down to her high energy and unapologetic, no-fucks-given attitude. It doesn’t hurt that the crowd gets to ride the high of her chart-topping hits, like a rock-remastered version of “Closer.” But we also get that classic Halsey touch with fan favorites like “Colors” and the set-exclusive “Drive” (and really, what Californian familiar with her catalogue wouldn’t lose it for that one?).
To tie off the night, we move to the encore. Halsey re-enters in her Alice fit—baby doll blue dress, tall white socks—and delivers a fire-fueled performance of “Nightmare,” followed by an emotional rendition of “Graveyard.”
For her final trick, Halsey closes with “The Great Impersonator.” It feels like slipping into an Alice-meets-magician fugue state, wrapped in a ‘70s fever dream. And it takes us into the closing credits, complete with a comically timed puff of sparkles and smoke.
“This tour is going to be a bit different. Each song was carefully selected,” Halsey wrote the day before the show. “For good reason... This is something special. I can feel it.”
Yes, it was.
Catch Halsey (a)live. The ‘For My Last Trick’ tour continues tomorrow night in Bristow, VA, and will make another stop in Northern California this summer at The Venue at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, CA. To purchase tickets, click here.
Halsey Set List
[act i: alice falls down the rabbit hole]
Darwinism
Bad At Love
Alone
Lucky
Dog Years
I Am Not a Woman, I'm a God
Control
Lilith
Angel on Fire
Arsonist
Panic Attack
Graveyard
Only Living Girl in LA
[act ii: the show]
Lonely is the Muse
You Should Be Sad
Colors
Closer
Drive
Gasoline
Alice of the Upper Class
Encore:
Nightmare
Without Me
The Great Impersonator
