It’s been more than five years since Olivia Rodrigo raced to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with her debut single, “Drivers License.” Since then, she’s stacked up nine more Top 10 hits in the course of three blockbuster albums. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter has cemented herself as one of the 2020s’ pop megastars.
And yet, Tuesday night was her first ever show in Pittsburgh. She played the first of two sold-out shows at PPG Paints Arena.
Rodrigo finally decided to include the ‘Burgh in her route for The Unraveled Tour, which follows the June release of her third studio album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.” Fortunately, the two-hour-long, 23-song setlist covered hits and fan favorites from her first two albums, “SOUR” and “GUTS,” as well.
And she proved to be easily worth the wait.
But first, fans got the chance to see opener Wolf Alice, a British alt rock band with a big and versatile sound. Singer Ellie Rowsell’s voice rising and spiraling around the roaring guitar and percussion. They were exhiliratingly loud, effortlessly cool and full of boundless energy.
But in addition to the great music, one couldn’t help but notice the entire stage full of flowers that the band was standing amongst. It was a striking image, and the purpose became clear when a video of Rodrigo lying in a field began to play on the semicircular screen behind the double-thrust stage about 15 minutes before the star took the stage.
The show was separated into five segments, representing five different seasons, starting and ending with spring. The seasons were tracked by the flowers on the stage, the lighting colors and the tone of the songs. This concept was just as effective as the concept of her recent album, the tracklist of which followed a relationship chronologically from its sparkly beginnings to its smoky end.
In the first Spring segment, Rodrigo frolicked and twirled her way through the flowers as she sang frothy synth pop confection “Drop Dead.” The sold out crowd screamed along every lyric. The second tune, “u + me = <3,” was a euphoric, pumping love song that found the heavily female audience singing along as Rodrigo traversed both sides of the stage and bounded through the blooms. It was an unapologetically girly moment of joy.
She threw in even higher-tempo “GUTS” bonus track “So American” next, then moved on from the happy love songs to No. 1 hit breakup banger “Good 4 U.” Rodrigo’s voice is able to be incredibly soft and sweet, but she showed off some alt rock girl screams in the last chorus.
Transitioning to Summer, the stage lights turned red-hot for her petty and petulant Blondie-esque rocker “My Way.” One of Rodrigo’s strong suits — unsurprising for a former child actor — is her ability to express emotion through her voice. The anger and triumph bled through the speakers as she jammed out.
She followed that with new song “Serena Joy,” which was released in late August ahead of her inaugural Daisy Chain Fields Music Festival. Both the festival and the song saw proceeds donated to women’s and reproductive health organizations. “Serena Joy” takes its name from a character in Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” and uses its monotonous, rising tone to draw attention to its political message.
As Summer wrapped up she talk-sang through “Bad Idea Right?” and then had a blast singing “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl.”
“This is only our third show of The Unraveled Tour, so this is all so fresh and new and exciting,” Rodrigo said. “One of the reasons why I think I’m having so much fun up here on the stage is because of the incredible women in my band.”
The lights went down as she began to sing “GUTS” lead single “Vampire,” a fan favorite that had the crowd nearly drowning out her vocals. The bracelets that were handed out to audience members lit in sweeping patterns of blue-white as she rocketed through the power ballad bridge. Then, they turned purple as she sang, well, “Purple.”
As the Fall season began, under warm red and orange lights, she started the mini set with the exuberant love song “Stupid Song” on the B-stage and then wandered through the crowd. For the Cure-inspired “Maggots For Brains,” she split the crowd in two to sing the extended outro.
After “Traitor” she stopped to discuss her next song. “This next song is a song that I wrote when I was a teenager. … At the time, I was struggling with a lot of insecurity, a lot of comparison. … I wrote these lyrics as a way to sort of sort through that feeling and it really made me feel better. I think that’s one of the many joys of songwriting, helping yourself feel better understood.”
That song is “Lacy” from “Guts,” a ballad that’s both syrupy and sharp. It was the first time it was played so far on the tour, replacing “Begged” from the previous two nights’ setlists.
For the Winter set, she started out behind a piano in a white dress and played the deceptively sweet-sounding “Honeybee.” She said that it’s one of her favorite songs from the new album.
The mini-set aso included her first mega-hit “Drivers License,” with its booming, stomping bridge. She headed to the mini-stage on the middle of the floor and sat on the edge to sing “Less,” the most heartbreaking song from her new album, which she infused with absolute anguish. Then, she stood in the center of the mini-stage to sing “The Cure,” a building, guitar-driven hit. Towards its end, rain began to fall on her, soaking the artist and dissolving — or unraveling — her white dress to reveal a red outfit underneath.
For the last mini-set, another flower-filled spring, she returned in jeans and a tank top for three upbeat songs. Fans yelled along to the twinkly “Deja Vu” and then literally screamed along to her punkest tune, “All-American B****.”
“I’ve got one more song for you, ony one more, but I’m only going to play it for you under one condition. That condition is, when I say ‘go,’ I want everyone in here to jump and dance and go crazy. Do we have a deal?” she shouted to the crowd.
The fans held up their end of the bargain for the perfect closer, “Expectations,” a cheeky ’80s-inspired bop about trying to self-improve after a breakup.
It was a testament to the quality of the show that so few people left their seats before Rodrigo yelled her final “good night”s. Wednesday night’s crowd is in for a treat.