Olivia Rodrigo Concert Review: A Moving Night of Emotional Ballads and Angsty Rock Anthems | Arts | The Harvard Crimson (2024)

Olivia Rodrigo is not just a musician and singer-songwriter — she’s a performer. Stopping in Boston on April 2 as part of the ‘GUTS’ World Tour, she delivered an astonishing show, from dynamic visuals and choreography to the heartfelt lyrics, unreal sound, and touching moments of connection with the audience.

Opening with “bad idea right?,” Rodrigo started off the concert with a burst of energy. Bathed in flashing blue and red lights, Rodrigo bounced around the butterfly-shaped stage singing, “I only see him as a friend / the biggest lie I ever said” before her band played a gorgeous rock guitar riff, embodying the song’s carefree theme and building excitement for other pop-rock tracks in the set.

Walking onto the stage behind a backdrop of yearbook-esque photo frames spotlighting Rodrigo and her band, she moved on to the pop-punk inspired song “ballad of a homeschooled girl.” Full of angst, the track details social blunders like “I laughed with the wrong time, sat with the wrong guy” and other embarrassing missteps. Drummer Hayley Brownell’s powerful instrumentals alongside Rodrigo’s relatable lyrics conveyed the song’s message of letting go of the frustration that comes with social faux pas and embracing the slip-ups.

Rodrigo followed with the lead single off “GUTS,” “vampire.” An emotional track about a one-sided relationship, the song’s lyrics shone through Rodrigo’s passionate delivery and the fitting image of her silhouette in front of a full moon. “vampire” kicked off the more melodic portion of the set, with “traitor,” “drivers license,” and “teenage dream” following, which highlighted Rodrigo’s poignant lyricism and touching relatability.

“I wrote this next song a few days before my nineteenth birthday, at a time when I was so afraid of growing up and just dreaded every birthday. I thought growing up was the scariest thing,” Rodrigo said when introducing “teenage dream.”

Now 21, Rodrigo reflected on the joys of growing up and gave voice to her fears, while also becoming one of the people that says “it gets better the more you grow” from “teenage dream” — adding a new dimension to the nostalgic track.

“pretty isn’t pretty” stood out as another highlight, from the expert choreography to the song’s focus on burdensome feminine physical expectations. Surrounded by her backup dancers holding up mirrors emblematic of lollipops, Rodrigo sang, “I started to skip lunch, stopped eatin’ cake on birthdays / I bought a new prescription to try and stay calm.” Rodrigo’s dancers held up the mirrors to their faces and danced with them before thrusting them towards her, emphasizing not only how common it is to magnify one’s imperfections, but also how often physical standards of beauty are imposed on women.

A notable moment of connection during the show was Rodrigo’s performance of “logical” from a moon platform suspended in the air. As the glowing purple crescent moon gradually spun across the stadium, Rodrigo looked out at fans up above in the recesses of the venue as she sang, “I look so stupid thinkin’ / two plus two equals five,” making sure that all of her fans felt included in the concert. Though the floating moon may appear gimmicky, its inclusion during the melodious portion of the set fostered tender and intimate moments that can be difficult to achieve on a stadium tour.

“Can’t Catch Me Now,” written for the 2023 film “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” was another standout track in the set, and the instrumentals died down to center Rodrigo’s vocals and the vocals of her backup singers. The vengeful retribution at the heart of the song was evident from the stripped-back sound and limited choreography, calling attention to the track’s anthemic tension.

Rodrigo made sure to include songs off her debut album “SOUR” in the set as well. Sitting on the edge of the stage with guitarist Daisy Spencer, Rodrigo shared the experience of posting the song “happier” online — her first introduction to producer Dan Nigro.

“I posted a clip of it on my Instagram. I remember being so insecure. I thought it got no Instagram likes, and everybody hated it. I was like, ‘Ah, why’d I ever post it?’ But it turns out one very important person liked it. That was this producer, Dan,” Rodrigo said.

Towards the end of the set, Rodrigo returned to her fiery punk-rock tracks. The introduction to “brutal” was especially exciting, as Rodrigo’s band played the song’s instrumentals against a backdrop of a burning purple curtain. Emily Rosenfield and Spencer on guitar, and Moa Munoz on the bass, played lush riffs alongside Brownell’s rich drumline — fitting for the song’s theme of angsty teenage rage. Rodrigo yelled out, “And they’d all be so disappointed / Cause who am I if not exploited” before holding her hands out to the crowd, encouraging them to sing along and feel all of their teenage rage. From bouncing across the stage with her band to playing air guitar and headbanging, Rodrigo’s rendition of “brutal” was playful and full of feeling, embracing her youth while singing about all of its agonizing challenges.

“all-american bitch” continued this trend, focusing on the contradictions that are a part of womanhood. As Rodrigo sang out, “I’m a perfect all-american bitch / with perfect all-american lips / and perfect all-american tit*,” a pair of bright red lips sang along behind her, illuminating the contradictory reality of being a woman — of being expected to feel nothing yet feel grateful, and to be pretty, yet sexy, yet also classy.

The final song of the set and the second of two encores, “get him back!,” was a beautiful end to Rodrigo’s performance. Balancing the yearning to get back together with an ex alongside the desire to get revenge and move on, Rodrigo sang into a red megaphone, “I wanna get him back / I wanna make him really jealous, wanna make him feel bad.” Playing up the song’s range of emotion, Rodrigo’s vocal delivery aptly portrayed the humor, anger, and heartbreak within the track, ending the concert on a thrilling note as purple and blue star-shaped confetti rained down on TD Garden.

Rodrigo’s performance was captivating, featuring a variety of sonic textures, detailed choreography, passionate vocals, and stunning visual backdrops. Rodrigo spilled her guts in Boston, and her pop stardom is sure to bring her back soon.

—Staff writer Anna Moiseieva can be reached at anna.moiseieva@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @AMoiseieva.