Olivia Rodrigo Guts Tour Review in New York City

I knew I used to be going to shed a tear or two at Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts” Tour. I’m only a lady, in any case. On April 6, the three-time Grammy winner carried out her second of 4 sold-out exhibits at Madison Square Garden in New York City. And for an hour and a half on Saturday night time, Rodrigo reminded us of the nice, dangerous, and ugly of girlhood.

A bag adorned with ribbon bows slung over my shoulder, I screamed in anticipation with a crowd stuffed with sequin miniskirts, glittery purple eyeshadow, and fishnet tights as Rodrigo ascended onto the stage for her opening quantity, “Bad Idea Right.” To my shock, the viewers wasn’t simply younger teenagers, youngsters, and their dad and mom. An surprising handful of 20- and 30-something adults like me have been simply as prepared to leap and sing alongside to a mixture of tunes from her sophomore album, “Guts,” and her critically acclaimed debut album, “Sour.” I think about we liked the live performance the identical cause I get pleasure from her music a lot — she made us really feel like teenagers once more.

The web is full of assume items and TikTookay breakdowns that designate Rodrigo’s recognition amongst ladies who’re older than her: it is fueled by our nostalgia for girlhood and want to revert again to our teenage years. Scream-singing alongside to her lyrics on the “Guts” Tour, I definitely felt that, and I noticed it on the faces of fellow millennials in the group on Saturday night time. She took us, her devoted followers, by means of angst, nostalgia, disappointment, and naturally, head-banging enjoyable.

A number of months prior, I’d seen Rodrigo carry out greater hits like “Get Him Back!” and “Vampire” at Z100’s Jingle Ball, so I used to be already conscious of her performing prowess. At the “Guts” Tour, her vocals have been uncooked, full of a real ardour and emotion, and her pop-punk power was unmatched. But her extra susceptible ballads have been particularly transferring to listen to dwell.

When Rodrigo sang about not feeling fairly sufficient with society’s inconceivable magnificence requirements in “Pretty Isn’t Pretty” and placing your self on the market for somebody you like — who’s so not price it — in “Love Is Embarrassing,” she introduced me again to these precise emotions I’d skilled in highschool and school, and even at occasions in my late twenties. In one significantly particular second introducing “Teenage Dream,” she spoke about writing the tune as an 18-year-old, being so afraid of rising up. But after lately turning 21 in late February, she realized getting older is not so scary in any case. I admittedly chuckled as a result of, properly, she is barely 21, however it’s additionally a sentiment I felt again then and nonetheless do now.

She cycled between emotional ballads like these and fiery bangers that had everybody on their ft. During her efficiency of “All American Bitch,” she inspired the group to “think about someone or something that pisses you off” and scream on the prime of your lungs. It was therapeutic.

So, thanks to Rodrigo for taking me again to these messy, enjoyable days, but additionally reminding me why I’m relieved to be previous that part in my life. My different takeaway after that final encore? Maybe it is OK to textual content your ex. Get him again!

After two extra nights at MSG, the “Guts” Tour is heading to the UK and Europe in May and June, and concludes in August in Los Angeles.

Yerin Kim is the options editor at POPSUGAR, the place she helps form the imaginative and prescient for particular options and packages throughout the community. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, she has over 5 years of expertise in the popular culture and girls’s way of life areas. She’s obsessed with spreading cultural sensitivity by means of the lenses of way of life, leisure, and magnificence.