Olivia Rodrigo makes the broken hearts of Barcelona sing with rage
The Californian singer has stopped by the Palau Sant Jordi to present her second album, 'Guts'
BarcelonaWith overwhelming confidence, especially considering her 21 years, Olivia Rodrigo presented her credentials today at the Palau Sant Jordi as one of the great stars of current music. And the response could not have been more forceful: a deafening shout from an audience that had lived the entire concert as if they were risking their lives. Rodrigo, who presents his album Gutos, continuation of the much celebrated Sour, the night has started with the two almost punk bombs Bad idea right? and Ballad of a homeschooled girl, two songs that the fans have sung from the beginning to the end, often causing the singer's voice to not even be heard. The tone continued throughout the night.
The collective madness has not stopped growing when Rodrigo has chained vampire, which connects with any girl or woman who has felt like a victim of a relationship based on manipulation and gaslighting, and Traitor, a collection of reproaches towards those ex-partners who turn the page too quickly. If we pay attention to the devotion with which the fans have accompanied Rodrigo, we can prove that the artist is the new chronicler of broken and angry hearts.
That Olivia Rodrigo appeals directly to the female experience has become evident with the public that has attended the Palau Sant Jordi en masse: mostly groups of twenty-five-year-old friends absolutely customized for the occasion. He dress code official was silver sequin skirts like the singer herself, tops and hats of cowboy mauve in color (the tone that unites their two albums), heart-shaped sunglasses and stars everywhere. There were also those who complemented the set with a band of miss with the titles of her favorite Californian songs.
The concert of the public and Olivia
"Wow, Barcelona, he's singing really loud. Has someone broken his heart, maybe?" Rodrigo could not help but show his astonishment at the fact that his concert became almost a choral recital, with his voice and that of the 18,000 people who filled Sant Jordi. Collective catharsis has reached extreme levels with Driver license, the song about a romantic breakup with which Olivia became known and which she performed on the piano. Despite its young age, the repertoire also has room for nostalgia, represented by Teenage dreams, which she has also played on the piano and which was accompanied by a video that collected images of her since she was a child singing and dancing around the house, a collection of clippings that make it clear that she was destined for the show since she was little.
One of the most iconic moments of the concert took place when Rodrigo, sitting on a mauve crescent and surrounded by stars, rose above the audience to sing Logical, a bitter ballad about the irrational nature of love. Playful with the cameras and the public, the singer congratulated her birthday, took photos with her followers' cell phones and wore a T-shirt illustrated with a photo of her as a Virgin Mary and with the Holy Family in the background. And he has brought his followers to ecstasy both with the most bombastic songs and with more intimate songs like Happier, which he has performed only accompanied by guitar.
That Rodrigo has a rock soul has been clear from the beginning of the concert, but it exploded with the final stretch. Brutal has made the Palau Sant Jordi howl and the temperature has risen a few more degrees with his latest success, Obsessed, shameless confession of unhealthy jealousy. In case there was any doubt that anger is one of the singer's creative engines, when it was the turn ofall american bitch The artist has asked the public to call until they burst, thinking about those people who annoy them. The audience, who did not falter for a minute, said goodbye to Rodrigo singing at the top of their lungs the return of Get him back!, a song that wouldn't be out of place on the soundtrack of any 90s romantic comedy.
With two albums and three Grammy Awards under her belt, talking about Olivia Rodrigo as a rising young promise is an understatement. Although his time in the Disney universe could lead one to believe that he is a manufactured product, the intensity of his lyrics – marked by the brutal honesty of post-adolescence – and his musical references demonstrate his own identity that should not be overlooked. Given the insistence on relating her to Taylor Swift, she claims Alanis Morissette, Gwen Stefani (No Doubt) or Sheryl Crow as her spiritual guides. They all have something in common: having transformed the anger caused by a romantic breakup into a passport to success. Its musical and aesthetic references – the look from the video clip of Bad idea right? It is a very clear tribute to the cult film of the 90s Empire memories– make calling him a teen pop phenomenon sound reductive.
