Rainclouds have brooded over Dublin 8 all day, and minutes before Rae is due on, they do their worst to kill the mood by unleashing a bone-chilling downpour. As fans scramble for shelter \u2013 or just stand there, growing more miserable by the second \u2013 you wonder whether the elements might get the better of Rae\u2019s effervescent music. What pop star could sparkle in so soggy a setting?<\/p>\n
The downpour finally relents as the former TikTok personality makes her entrance for a dazzling performance that brings such alien concepts as sunshine and glamour to an evening waylaid by the Irish summer gloom. She is introduced on stage by dry ice and Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connor\u2019s Nothing Compares 2 U and materialises singing her biggest hit, Diet Pepsi, while suspended in a contraption that suggests a cyberpunk twist on Botticelli\u2019s Birth of Venus.<\/p>\n
The entrance is Rae in a clamshell. She moves and sings like a Gen Z Britney Spears \u2013 both hail from small-town Louisiana \u2013 and yet Diet Pepsi has a dreamy quality that hints at something more menacing under its swirling surface. It\u2019s bubblegum with bathos.<\/p>\n
She isn\u2019t pop\u2019s most naturally gifted vocalist: Adele can rest easy. But there is something wonderfully authentic about the sense of joy she brings to her music. There are better singers and dancers. But few make putting on a show for your fans feel like such uncomplicated fun. We\u2019re all here together; why not have a good time? <\/p>\n
This is more subversive than it might initially appear. In an era when pop music has never taken itself more seriously \u2013 see Olivia Rodrigo hanging out with the Cure, or Billie Eilish trying to save the planet with recycled vinyl \u2013 Rae\u2019s old-school vibes feel fresh and new.<\/p>\n
Her ascent has been rapid, even by the standards of overnight stardom in pop. She had never played a headline show when she kicked off her tour up the road at 3Arena last year. Now, some 10 months later, she has returned for this cheery encore. Cheery but surely challenging for Rae, who is brave enough to get through the evening \u2013 essentially in her underwear \u2013 in defiance of the vicious wind whipping through Kilmainham. By the end, even her goosebumps must have goosebumps.<\/p>\n
![\"Singer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/VYOFW4A66P3SDJOKILAGWDIUIM.jpg\")
Singer Addison Rae in 2022, her ascent has been rapid. Photograph: Noam Galai\/Getty Images for Snap Inc. <\/p>\n