The first of Olivia Rodrigo’s two concerts at the Bell Center really made us happy. Seeing thousands of young people dancing or jumping to the American singer’s uninhibited pop-punk was truly something joyful. Rock is in good hands, our bruised arms have, it seems, managed to pass the torch!
You really had to see and hear this crowd made up almost mainly of teenagers and young women in their early twenties. The few men seen were accompanying their spouses or daughters. There were indeed a few little girls, despite the fact that Rodrigo was criticized by certain puritanical minds for tackling adult subjects – the singer became known as a teenager in the series High School Musical, from Disney. The 21-year-old young woman notably launched the Fund 4 Good foundation, which defends the right to abortion by distributing kits in the United States including condoms and abortion pills, an initiative which caused a scandal in the states which made illegal abortion.
Honestly, we haven’t seen anything to write to his mother, as stuck up as she is.
The singer was incredibly generous, ending her show with an extended walkabout, roaming the entire floor, giving hugs and accepting gifts from her fans. You also had to see her sitting on a crescent moon floating all around the floor during the walks. Logical And Enough for You greeting everyone until they return to the cow floor! We are a long way from Courtney Love…
On stage, in fact, Olivia Rodrigo showed her frosty side at the opening and closing of the show, starting the evening with Bad Idea Right? And Ballad of a Homeschooled Girltwo muscular tracks taken from his most recent album, Guts. The final sprint was even fiercer: Brutal highlighted the guitarists and bassists of her badass all-female band, Obsessed allowed us to see an Olivia installed in her flamboyant red dress directly above a camera fixed under a transparent section of the stage before running to conclude the song on the guitar, while the hit All-American Bitch gave us the dream punk finale where the singer asked the audience to scream at the top of their lungs.
We believe we left a piece of our left eardrum there. Indeed, the decibels generated by nearly 15,000 young girls are frankly impressive. During Vampirewe could barely hear the singer’s voice!
The heart of the concert showed the tender side of the singer, especially on Traitorfirst song of the evening taken from his album sour. The final solo of the ballad ended with a first choreography from a group of dancers who will then return regularly, a contribution always judicious and measured. An eclipse which will give the singer time to reappear behind a grand piano installed in the center of the vast stage carved in the shape of a butterfly. She will sing there Drivers License And Teenage Dream, the latter song being accompanied by video extracts of little Olivia as a child. “I wrote this song when I had just turned 19, and I was really afraid of getting old at that time,” she confessed. Now I have just turned 21 and I am completely happy, I even look forward to my next birthdays. »
The other touching moment occurred before Jealousy ; the excellent song started by the heavy and swaying bass of Moa Munoz was preceded by some sequences captured on the spot in the crowd, including a young couple of gay men who tenderly kissed, to the great pleasure of the crowd , but especially from the singer, obviously delighted.
The song Can’t Catch Me Nowcomposed by Olivia for the film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, was another highlight of the evening. The excellent folk ballad, a little less known because it is still very new, allowed us to highlight the young musician’s talent as a melodist in addition to measuring the power and accuracy of her voice, impressive in many ways.
Finally, a word on the first part provided by Chappell Roan, received with enthusiasm and served by much more elaborate staging and lighting effects than in the usual first parts. With some of his songs taken up in chorus by part of the crowd – Hot to Go! And Casual, notably. A great way to start an energetic evening masterfully led by a group of 100% female artists.