On the third night of her mini-residency at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (10/16), Halsey had a problem she shared with her audience.
Sporting a turquoise wig with blunt bangs, a sheer black sleeveless top, teal fishnet tights attached to matching garter-style cutouts and cute black boots, the singer paced the on the stage explaining the dilemma the audience, surrounded by gravestones rooted her on in anticipation.
"The problem is, is that I planned to do a different song," she explained.
"The second song of the encore is one I haven't done yet on the tour. But while I was up here, I was thinking to myself, some of you guys are gonna be pretty fucking pissed if I cut the other one. It's hard. I want to give you something new, and I want to give you something exciting, but the setlist was kind of already perfect," she continued.
So she gave the shockingly exuberant crowd for a Thursday in Los Angeles, a choice.
"I can either play a very, very, very rare record... 'Tokyo Narita,'" she said, referring to a tune she live debuted just 24 hours previously near the end of her set on Wednesday.
"Or I can, pretty much for the second time in my entire career ever, my rendition of 'I Walk The Line,'" she said to thunderous approval.
The kids in the graveyard love The Man in Black. Who woulda guessed it.
And with that she live debuted one of Johnny Cash's biggest hits, which appears on the album she is featuring on this tour, Badlands, whose 10th anniversary she is celebrating, thus the title of the tour.
It's fascinating she never did the song a decade ago during her original Badlands Tour. She had plenty of time to do it, appearing 92 times.
Plus, during that tour she wasn't adverse to covers as she rocked out to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams;” Panic! at the Disco’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies;” and two by Justin Bieber “The Feeling” and “Love Yourself.”
Also, is "Closer" really a cover since she is featured on The Chainsmokers' hit? If it is add that to the list.
She performed it all three nights at the cemetery and has now played it over 150 times.
Despite what her record label thinks, Halsey is so popular even the rain decided to make an appearance on the opening night, a rarity for LA in mid-October.
But like the fans who flocked the haunted Hollywood grounds, it was respectful and stayed cool and didn't effect the show. There were even fireworks at the end.
The 126 year-old cemetery recently hosted The Format's first show in LA in 18 years and has a long history of being an incredibly unique venue for music and movie watching.
And speaking of Johnny Cash, he is allegedly the first performer to play the graveyard in between Santa Monica Blvd and Paramount Studios.
Another reason Halsey is looking back a decade instead of producing new jams and touring off that is because she says her label won't let her,
“I’m not allowed to make a new album because The Great Impersonator underperformed.” she told Apple Music in May.
“I’m being compared to numbers and to other people I don’t consider lateral to me,” continued, “and if I’m being honest with you, the album sold 100,000 fucking copies first week. That’s a pretty big first week, especially for an artist who hasn’t had a hit in a long time. The tour is the highest-selling tour of my entire career,” she complained.
And for good reason, not only was The Great Impersonator a fantastic record and super creative, but it peaked at #2 on the album chart.
Only those with #1s can make new wax?
The good news is she's playing long, 30-song sets spanning her whole career so fans can bask in her past as the record label figures out what a mistake it is to slow down this creative force.
This month she heads to Mexico, Dallas, ATL, and Philly before doing shows in November in Boston, DC, MN, and the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.
Get your tickets on Halsey's website while they last.
Back to Badlands Tour 2025-2026
10/22 Pabellón Oeste, Mexico City, Mexico
10/24 South Side Ballroom, Dallas, TX
10/26 Coca-Cola Roxy, Atlanta, GA
10/29 The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
11/2 MGM Music Hall at Fenway, Boston, MA
11/4 The Anthem, Washington, DC
11/6 The Armory, Minneapolis, MN
11/8 Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL
11/12 Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO
1/9 History, Toronto, Canada
1/13 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY
1/17 The Fillmore Detroit, Detroit, MI
1/22 AFAS Live, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1/23 Velodrom, Berlin, Germany
1/24 Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Düsseldorf, Germany
1/26 L’Olympia, Paris, France
1/29 Aviva Studios, Manchester, United Kingdom
2/3 O2 Academy Brixton, London, United Kingdom
2/13 The Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia
2/17 Riverstage, Brisbane, Australia
2/19 Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
