Julia Seiden

Pictured above is Olivia Rodrigo performing “the grudge” at her “GUTS” Tour. I left this concert feeling grateful, nostalgic and just overall so happy that I had gotten to be a part of such an unforgettable experience.

As the wax begins to drip down the purple candles that spell out “GUTS” and the lights gradually dim, the letters become disfigured and a rush of adrenaline can be felt throughout the entire theater. Fans have been waiting for this day for months, and a hush of pounding hearts and rosy cheeks can be felt among the throngs of passionate fans. A visual of her running through a dimly lit hallway, a bright purple door being knocked upon, flashing lights and the drums of “bad idea right?” introduce fans to Olivia Rodrigo’s “GUTS” Tour.

When Rodrigo’s album “GUTS” was released on Sep. 8, I immediately knew that if she decided to go on tour for this album, I would do whatever it took to get tickets. Sure enough, when she announced tour dates, I ran to Ticketmaster to sign up for presale. Of course, with Ticketmaster being Ticketmaster, I did not end up getting presale and I was left feeling betrayed and upset that I was not going to see one of my favorite artists. But then a miracle occurred. One of my friends had gotten a presale code, and offered to buy me tickets. Despite having doubts that I would ever get those tickets, I told her that she could. Then, that next week, she sent me a picture of the tickets and said that they were all mine and that I could take whoever I wanted to take with me. After paying her back, buying an outfit and waiting months and months, Feb. 24 finally arrived.

The day of the concert was long and tiring. I still had to get through an entire day of school, plus it was a Wednesday, so I was already tired from the week. When school finally ended, I got some coffee with my friend, went back to my house and got ready for the concert. The drive to the Moody Center also seemed to never end because of that well-known 5 o’clock traffic. We eventually arrived and after meeting a friend in the merchandise line, waiting outside in the freezing cold with only my T-shirt, skirt and fishnets and dropping $50 on merch, everyone was pining to go inside.

We finally made it in, and went straight to our seats. By this time it was 7:30 p.m., and Chappell Roan, the opener, had begun her set. I was only familiar with two of her songs, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I definitely wasn’t expecting to become a fan of hers. Her performance was fun and lighthearted, her voice was phenomenal and she even taught us a fun little dance to her song “HOT TO GO!” By the end of her set, she had my friend and I in love with her music, hyped up and literally shaking with excitement.

After a cleaning of the stage, a visual of melting candles that counted down the beginning of the concert elapsed and the concert finally began. As Rodrigo took the stage, the venue was alive with excitement and everyone was screaming their heads off. I really loved her mixed setlist, with all of the songs from “GUTS” and a majority of the songs from her first album “Sour”. Being a fan of Rodrigo since her American Girl movie, and not getting to attend her “Sour” tour, I was so grateful that she played songs from “Sour.” I loved getting to finally sing along to the bridge of “driver’s license” with her and everyone else.

The concert was an emotional rollercoaster for me. Having to go from absolutely sobbing to “teenage dream” to dancing to “love is embarrassing” was a little crazy but so fun. Getting to sing along to “vampire” and “the grudge” had me breaking out into a cold sweat and chills throughout the concert. If I had to narrow down my top three performances (not in order) I would say that “enough for you,” her unreleased track “obsessed” and “favorite crime” all left me feeling thunderstruck. The performance of “enough for you” was especially incredible not just because of how much I love the song, but also because of the flying moon that she was seated on and performed from that flew around the audience. Seeing her up close like that without being in the pit was incredible to me, and just made her look and feel so real.

Another aspect of the concert that stuck out to me was definitely the choreography in some of her performances. I feel like I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews on the dancing in “love is embarrassing” because it’s awkward and a little clumsy. At least for this performance, I think that the awkward dancing fits really well with the song, because the song is about how being in love with someone is embarrassing and weird. I also really loved the choreography for “lacy” because I feel like it captured how the song makes people feel, and was also satisfying to watch because of how graceful and rhythmic the dancers made it feel.

Another thing about the concert that made the night worth all of the waiting was the audience and fans. My friend and I were seated in between a couple on our left, a mom and a daughter to our right and a mom with her two daughters in front of us. I felt so much love radiating from everyone around us, and the concert really made me feel appreciative for my mom, who had put in so much work and effort to make sure that my friend and I made it to the concert safely, despite her not getting to attend it with us. I think that my favorite part about this (and any) concert is the uniting of fans of all ages and roles because everyone is there to see that one artist, and there’s just so much joy and excitement beaming from everyone.

Overall, I 100 percent believe that Olivia Rodrigo’s “GUTS” tour was worth the time spent waiting and the money. Even with me having seats in the lower bowl, I feel like even the people in the nosebleeds got an incredible experience, especially when she flew around on the moon. I left this concert feeling grateful, nostalgic and just overall so happy that I had gotten to be a part of such an unforgettable experience. 

Performance: 9/10

Music: 1000/10

Audience engagement: 9/10

Overall rating: 10/10