i saw Olivia Rodrigo live!
my experience at the 'GUTS World Tour' in Singapore
Hey folks! Last Wednesday, I went to Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS World Tour in Singapore and it’s all I’ve been thinking about since.
Here’s a little context before I dive into Olivia. Before I moved to Substack, I used to write on Medium. My very first article? A little piece on Olivia’s debut album SOUR. Upon publishing, it was selected for further distribution by Medium’s staff, which meant it made the front page of Medium’s music section. You can imagine how affirming it was for someone just starting out in music journalism.
Fast forward to October 2 and there I was at Singapore Indoor Stadium, listening to the same songs that kickstarted my writing journey, only this time live with thousands of fans. We love a full circle moment.
GUTS AND GLORY
For a 21 year old on her first arena tour, Olivia’s stage presence is nothing short of amazing. From the moment she showed up on stage, she had an infectious energy that complemented her fist-pumping songs, including the iconic opener “bad idea right?”.
Right from the start, Olivia told the crowd to get on their feet and go crazy, and they sure listened. Admittedly, I was impressed, especially since Singapore crowds are notoriously boring. Fortunately, my crowd had many people standing, singing along, and even jumping to the music.
Olivia made sure to play all 12 tracks from GUTS, along with two bonus tracks—“obsessed” and “so american”—from GUTS (spilled). To beef up her setlist, she also included 9 songs from SOUR, including her #1 smashes “drivers license” and “good 4 u.”
The edgier songs were all obvious standouts for me. On anthems like “all-american bitch” and “get him back!”, she leaned heavily into her rock angst and the crowd fed off of her energy and shouted at the top of their lungs to every word.
Another standout for me is the GUTS deep cut “love is embarrassing,” a song I still firmly believe should’ve been a single. The tour performance features choreography that is so goofy but very fun to follow along. And the chorus goes OFF live.
I also loved Olivia’s active crowd engagement—something that I personally find essential in a live show, perhaps just as important as an artist’s raw artistic ability.
There were several singalong moments scattered throughout the show that were so memorable because of how loud the crowd was. Everyone was there for the same reason: to feel something. And we sure did.
Here are the goosebumps-inducing moments of the crowd singing in unison on “traitor” and “deja vu” from previous shows:
There’s just something magical about being in a room full of strangers who have very different life experiences from you, yet have all felt the same visceral emotions behind the songs you love.
IN MY FEELINGS
While I generally prefer Olivia’s rowdier songs, the quieter moments moved me a lot too.
One song in particular is the GUTS closer “teenage dream,” a piano ballad about Olivia’s fear of growing up. While I like the song, I never listened to it that much because it requires such a specific mood to fully immerse myself in it. But during the show? You bet I was fully immersed.
As Olivia’s childhood photos flashed on the screen, she charmed the audience with her vulnerability. “When does wide-eyed affection and all good intentions start to not be enough?” she sings. Sure, men are trash and heartbreak’s a bitch, but it’s the songs about ourselves that always cut me the deepest.
“They all say that it gets better, but what if I don't?” she wonders in the song’s swelling bridge. The song eventually fades to silence, not before we hear snippets from Olivia’s younger life. “Are you excited about your first show?” someone asks young Olivia. “Yup!” she responds enthusiastically. I’m crying.
Another emotional moment for me was during “enough for you,” where she sings “Someday I'll be everything to somebody else,” during the bridge and the crowd cheers in response. It brings a smile to my face knowing Olivia’s boyfriend Louis Partridge is in the crowd busy being the best pop star boyfriend, but more so knowing how far she’s come as an artist since writing that song.
There’s just something enlightening about hearing lyrics like these live, especially in the context of being at a sold-out concert of an artist I’ve watched evolve and mature in real time.
THE MOON THAT CAN’T BE MOVED
My only issue with the show was that giant moon prop that Olivia performed on for “logical” and “enough for you.”
Why? It didn’t move… I was expecting it to glide around the arena like it did for her previous shows.
Unfortunately, the set-up for her Asia shows meant she could only rotate in one spot, so those of us on the sides of the arena could only watch from a distance. Lucky for the fans who were directly below her though!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Not to sound too parasocial but as I left the concert venue, I felt really proud of what Olivia has achieved in just over 3 years of her mainstream pop star career.
I squeezed my way into a packed train, rubbing shoulders with a group of teen girls decked out in pastel purple. We’re back to reality now, but for a moment then it felt like the world stopped. And it was just us, Olivia, and our feelings—connected through the power of music.
If you missed the GUTS World Tour, fret not because the show will be streaming on Netflix come October 29!
Or you can listen to the setlist in the meantime:
Love this!! I saw the tour in Copenhagen and it was incredible. She is one of the best live performers right now 💜 (I also wrote about it on my Substack)