Olivia Rodrigo is a rockstar.
It’s been two years since she properly launched with global smash hit drivers licence. The track quickly became the definitive teenage heartbreak anthem of our time. Fast forward through three Grammys and worldwide recognition, and Rodrigo sits as the definitive spokesperson for Gen Z girlhood. Both Olivia and I were 19 the last time she took to the stage in Glasgow. I have high expectations on her return – this is the girl who soundtracked my coming of age.
The floor is littered with purple boa feathers and young girls in silver sequin skirts. It’s a Wednesday night in the Hydro, where thousands of fans are watching candles spell out the word ‘GUTS’ onscreen before slowly melting away; Olivia Rodrigo is nearly here.
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The pop-princess appears onstage, the crowd booming with the force of 14,000 teenage fangirls. It’s so loud they miss their cue to start singing, but quickly get back on track. A long way from her Disney days, Rodrigo, who looks like a model and sings like a Broadway star, tells us, “Glasgow, this is going to be a great fucking night!” as she chants the chorus to bad idea right?.
Rodrigo’s songs, full of wit and wry references to sex, address topics that will go over the heads of some of the younger fans in the crowd. “Everything I do is tragic, every guy I like is gay!” she laments in ballad of a homeschooled girl as she skips, prances and stomps across her stage, every bit embodying the megastar she has become.
The entire show is a balancing act – from her glittery two-piece sets paired with chunky Doc Martens to the way she effortlessly transitions from pop-punk anthems to thoughtful ballads, she is constantly spinning four or five different plates. She makes it look easy.