Halsey brings art to life at BB&T Center

Equipped with a decked out LED stair case, a water-filled B stage and all the pyro and fog one could need, Halsey brought it all on her hopeless fountain kingdom World Tour at the BB&T arena on Oct. 21.

From the finest details of leaving roses and candles in the VIP room to having huge screens displaying big and bright visuals for the whole crowd to see, she didn’t miss the mark.

Armed with the Aureum Meet and Greet package, the festivities started for me at 4:30 p.m.. After a long wait of people getting checked in and walking all the way to the back of the arena, we were finally led to the meet and greet room. The dimly-lit room was stocked with candles and flowers, tarot cards representing the singles of her album and a lone photo booth holding Halsey. Most artists would only allow one photo, but she allowed four.

Following the meet and greet we were led to intimate standing area that was directly next to the stage.

The singer said on Twitter she was “gonna bring [you] the biggest show,” and that meant opening acts too. She brought PARTYNEXTDOOR and Charli XCX alongside her to support her on the tour.

Charli XCX opened the show with a total bang. The British singer/songwriter turned the BB&T Arena into a huge dance party. She only had a limited amount of space due to her being the first opener, but she totally made do. Charli’s set up only consisted of a rectangular booth for her D.J. and a place for her to stand on. She opened her set with her top song, Dreamer, from her recent EP, “Number 1 Angel.” Whether you knew every lyric or none, you were bumping to this song. Later into her set she played her biggest hit “Fancy.” While playing the song she went into the arena floor touching the hands of many fans. After “Fancy,” she ended her set with “Boom Clap.” Her whole set was only 6 songs long, but she made every minute of it enjoyable for everyone. To top it off, she met fans after her set.

PartyNextDoor followed Charli XCX. PartyNextDoor really did bring a party, at first.The beginning had substance and was filled with pyro and mind blowing. The middle of his set lacked everything exciting. The entirety of his set was lackluster; even though he had enjoyable parts, I don’t think I’d see him live again.

After PartyNextDoor, they took us back to the same room where we met Halsey. They gave us a paper to vote on which of the three songs that we believed should be played tonight. They also let us take photos in the photo booth and take souvenir items.

After leading us back to our platforms, it was finally time for Halsey to take the stage. The stage was lined in white sheets when we got back. The show started with “The Prologue,” off her album “hopeless fountain kingdom.” It then transitioned into a snippet of Kanye’s “Hold My Liquor.” Finally the start of the first song, “Eyes Closed.” Her shadow was shown on the sheet during the first verse, but at the chorus, the curtain dropped. The dropped curtain revealed an LED-studded staircase.

A part of the show when the B stage was used was drenching, literally. A square stage filled with water got the surrounding crowd wet. The B stage only was used for two songs, “Lie,” and “Don’t Play” but had intense choreography. The choreography involved synced dancing between Halsey and her dancer imitating a fistfight.

A  show highlight was when Halsey brought out Lauren Jauregui to sing “Strangers.” Even though the singers tweeted out she was coming, it was still a shock to most.

Halsey truly gave her heart and soul into this show. The lighting, visuals and pyro/cryo, were a spectacular tribute to the kingdom.