Concert Review: Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour in Dallas, Texas
by Abhilasha Bhattarai | March 26th, 2024
Photo from Live Nation
Olivia Rodrigo proved herself as an arena-selling artist once again on March 1st taking center stage at Dallas’s American Airlines Center. She solidified her status as a defining figure in pop culture, a true rockstar, and an electrifying idol at the dawn of her career. The audience, adorned in lavender attire, welcomed her with thunderous applause, showcasing a diverse mix of fans from Gen Z, the LGBTQ+ community, and trendy moms.
Dressed in a dazzling silver custom Swarovski crystal ensemble, Rodrigo finished her performance with "bad idea right," preceded by a captivating intro that brought the Guts album cover to life. Beginning with nostalgic yearbook-inspired visuals, she reminisced about her journey from a Disney starlet to a burgeoning artist, serenading the crowd with hits like "Ballad of a Homeschool Girl" and "Vampire” off her Sophmore album GUTS. The piano rendition of her breakthrough song, "drivers license," symbolized bidding farewell to her past persona.
The next pair of songs, “Drivers License” and “traitor”, was arranged to pay homage to Rodrigo's earlier career milestones, and as the setlist progressed, we were able to follow the story of Rodrigo's rise to fame on the stage. Following the success of her album "Sour," which earned her a Best New Artist Grammy in 2022, she deliberately opted for a simpler stage setup reminiscent of a high school prom, performing at intimate venues like Radio City Music Hall and the Greek Theater. This deliberate choice, as she explained to Rolling Stone, was a strategic step in her journey to success as she stated she feels as though she“can’t jump to big arenas” from the get-go and “needs to play the smaller venues before”.
Transitioning to a segment adorned with astrological motifs, Rodrigo channeled influences like Cyndi Lauper, delivering energetic performances of "Love Is Embarrassing" and "Making the Bed." Perched atop a crescent moon, she mesmerized the audience with a rendition of "Logical" before engaging them in intimate conversation while suspended in mid-air.
Rodrigo's interaction with the audience further endeared her to fans, as she expressed her delight at being in the Dallas, Fort Worth area and reminisced about her previous tour. The moment of flying over the crowd on a crescent moon served as a segue into the show's more intense and provocative phase, coinciding with the eve of a Virgo full moon.
Songs like "Jealousy, Jealousy" and "Deja Vu" elicit raw emotion from Rodrigo and her fans, culminating in a euphoric experience. Specifically the bridge of “jealousy, jealousy” truly emphasizes her emotion in the song, where she states all the specifics that this protagonist possesses that she doesn’t. Statements like “In your daddy's nice car, yeah, you're living the life” and “I wanna be you so bad, and I don't even know you” truly express her obsession with this other individual's life. Clad in a fiery red ensemble, she commanded the stage during "Brutal" and "Obsessed," exuding confidence and sensuality.
As the crowd chanted for an encore, Rodrigo returned to deliver powerful performances of "Good 4 U" and "Get Him Back," paying homage to Gwen Stefani's influence with a nod to her iconic Bratz font from the early 2000s, which seems to influence Rodrigo’s personal street style and her set design. The night concluded with Rodrigo venturing into the crowd, embracing her fans, and receiving star-shaped confetti as a testament to her rising stardom and paying homage to her GUTS Tour artwork printed all over t-shirts, sweaters, and posters which fans could not seem to get enough of.
The Guts World Tour signifies a new chapter for Rodrigo, reaffirming her resilience and tenacity in the face of challenges. Coinciding with her 21st birthday, which was the week before, it's clear that Rodrigo is poised for even greater success in the years to come.
