The last time Olivia Rodrigo played at The O2 arena in London, she was still wearing her L plates. Her performance of ‘Driver’s License’ at the 2021 Brit Awards was her first-ever live performance, broadcast on national television and to her peers – it can be brutal in here. Tonight (May 14), she arrives bolshy, brilliant and occasionally chaotic; time as a teenager moves quickly, recklessly, and now, three years later aged 21, she knows that better than most.
Heading to see the ‘Guts‘ World Tour is akin to catching a big summer blockbuster on the silver screen. It rolls into town, dominating discourse, and much of tonight’s key set-pieces and have already been shared – extensively – on social media feeds and Instagram’s For You tab since the tour kicked off in the US earlier this spring. The two exceptions are Olivia’s personalised messages on her white tank-top – “Bad idea, innit?” – and a brief wardrobe malfunction during ‘Love Is Embarrassing’; “I almost just flashed you! That’s so embarrassing,” she laughs at the song’s conclusion.
Much like her pop contemporaries, Rodrigo’s shows offer a refuge from the outside pressures of the world, a message that resonates with her young crowd (and a few parents who relish the chance to show up their child on the big screen.) “If I was giving my 18 year-old advice,” she says, “it’d be to not worry so much.” This show thrives when it, in fact, worries way too much: opening gambit ‘Bad Idea, Right?’, ‘Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl’ and ‘Brutal’ are lovingly neurotic, punchy and large in their arena-sized execution. ‘All-American Bitch’ flips the script from self-loathing to some well-deserved finger pointing at societal expectations for young women: “I don’t get angry when I’m pissed / I’m the eternal optimist”.
Hitting arenas on only your second album does come with drawbacks. There are a few too many deep cuts that don’t quite fill the room, though ‘Lacy’ and ‘Jealousy, Jealousy’ fare better than rest, as do debut album cuts ‘Traitor’ and ‘Favourite Crime’. The staging throughout is impressive and eye-catching, including a moment that features Rodrigo riding on the crescent of a large half-moon that’s suspended through the crowd. The general hue of purple throughout the venue – on sparkling cowboy hats and feather boas – could well have turned green with the envy at the core of breakup anthems ‘Good 4 U’ and ‘Deja Vu’, two undeniable highlights.
It’s the songs that pick at the deepest wounds that resonate with tonight’s crowd. ‘Vampire’’s stunning build from a piano ballad to jaunty clap-back to the people who should know better is one of many howl-along moments. The raw regret of ‘Drivers Licence’ brought her to this venue a few years ago, but now, it’s sung with both the lived experience and confidence that comes only from someone who’s moved on to even bigger and better things; there’s no denying that Rodrigo has certainly done that and will continue to do so.
Olivia Rodrigo played:
‘Bad Idea Right?’
‘Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl’
‘Vampire’
‘Traitor’
‘Drivers License’
‘Teenage Dream’
‘Pretty Isn’t Pretty’
‘Love Is Embarrassing’
‘Making The Bed’
‘Logical’
‘Enough For You’
‘Lacy’
‘So American’
‘Jealousy, Jealousy’
‘Happier’
‘Favorite Crime’
‘Deja Vu’
‘The Grudge’
‘Brutal’
‘Obsessed’
‘All-American Bitch’
‘Good 4 U’
‘Get Him Back!’