Olivia Rodrigo: Live in NYC
Olivia Rodrigo makes a star-studded debut at Madison Square Garden with her sophomore album GUTS, featuring raw vocals, surprise guest performances, and even a floating moon. A departure from her debut album, Sour, this farewell to her teenage years marks her entrance to maturity with a unique pop and rock sound that will have listeners screaming the lyrics with her.
Tickets were sold out to all four shows on April 5, 6, 8, and 9, 2024, the only way to buy last-minute tickets was through resale sites where prices soared to the thousands, or to wait in line at the box office the day of the concert. Hopeful attendees began lining up outside of Madison Square Garden the night before to be first in line when the box office opened the next morning, where they could purchase a limit of two tickets per customer at face value. That’s how I found myself in line for box office tickets at 7am the morning of her last concert, which I thought was a reasonably early time, only to be three hundred-something in line. I figured, let’s just give this a couple hours and if I don’t get tickets by noon, I’ll leave. 12pm rolled around and I thought, hey, I’ve been waiting this long, it’d be a waste of time to leave now. And voila, after nearly nine hours of waiting, I was finally led into the arena and allowed to purchase tickets, which honestly felt like winning the lottery, even though I was the one spending money.
Besides Rodrigo’s highly-anticipated performances, the GUTS World Tour Bus Experience also came to NYC, where fans could take cool photo ops in the bus with fun props like a glitter-and-confetti-bombed toilet (as seen on her poster), a giant moon replica from her show, and other retro GUTS-inspired memorabilia. While waiting in line, fans were treated to a complimentary Olivia x AMEX trading card set and a chance to enter a raffle to win tickets to the show. AMEX cardholders had access to exclusive merch, which was a spunky graphic T-shirt, as well as a Sour keychain with purchase.
With tickets secured and a quick change into the GUTS Tour shirt, it was time for me to mosey on back to the venue. Concert-goers flooded the streets, decked out in sparkles, pink boas, purple cowgirl hats, and handmade outfits. The energy of the crowd was addicting, fans of all ages crowding through the doors and past security where they could buy merchandise, take group photos in front of a GUTS sign, and pick up complimentary goodie bags from sponsors like Dunkin’ Donuts.
Now the moment we’ve all been waiting for -- entering the venue and seeing whether my day of waiting was worth it. I followed the numbers indicating where my row and seat was and…
My jaw was on the floor.
When the lady at the box office was asking me to pick my seats, I allowed her to pick for me since I was severely dehydrated and not thinking straight enough to make any decisions, but she must’ve been my guardian angel because she placed me in the section directly to the left of the stage. Besides having floor tickets, I could not have been closer.
The concert was opened by the 90’s alt band The Breeders, which was not the most obvious choice for an opener given Rodrigo’s younger fanbase, but it was a touching homage to Rodrigo’s own rock-inspired music. As the GUTS candles on the giant screen melted away, signaling the start of the concert, the crowd began wildly stomping their feet and cheering in anticipation. I have been to a few arena-sized concerts and I have never felt the stands shake as they did that night. As Rodrigo walked onto the stage, the spotlight shining down on her glittery silver two-piece ensemble and her rockstar pose, the screams from the audience became deafening, the energy in the arena absolutely electrifying. And as soon as she hit the first note of “bad idea right?,” the pains of securing her highly-sought out tickets were forgotten. Rodrigo is a natural-born performer who knows how to utilize every part of the stage and engage thousands of onlookers through her spunky choreography and camerawork. Her background as a Disney actress really shines through as she commands the stage, using every part of herself to elevate the performance; even her long, luscious hair is used as an extension of herself, as she runs across the stage headbanging along with her guitarist.
The setlist includes all of her songs from GUTS, as well as a few hits from her debut album Sour, bringing it back to oldies like her breakout single “Driver’s License.” Fans were also blessed with a tantalizing rendition of “obsessed” from the deluxe edition, GUTS (spilled), and a stripped-back version of “Can’t Catch Me Now,” the Grammy-nominated song from the movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. As if that wasn’t enough, Noah Kahan made a special appearance on night one, performing a duet with Rodrigo of his hit song “Stick Season.” The night of my concert featured another guest appearance by the singer-songwriter Jewel, where the two performed a duet of Jewel’s 1995 hit “You Were Meant For Me.”
What makes Rodrigo so special is that she makes every person in the audience feel seen through her honest lyricism and audience interactions. No other concert has ever screamed female rage as much as GUTS and waiting for tickets was worth every minute.