On Friday Feb. 23, Olivia Rodrigo performed her first show for her Guts tour in Palm Springs. Upon arrival for the show, fans noticed four candles melting spelling out guts. When the candles are burnt out, the show will officially start.
Her setlist includes songs from her debut album, Sour with songs such as ‘Driver’s License’ and ‘deja vu’. Rodrigo also performs her entire Guts album as well as her vinyl exclusive song ‘Obsessed’.
On her opening night, celebrities such as her boyfriend, Louis Partidge were seen and other celebrities such as Sophia Wylie, Conan Gray, and Chris Olsen.
Although many enjoyed the night, there was lots of backlash with how Rodrigo performed her songs and what she wore. According to comments on social media platform Instagram, fans argue she is too young to act sexual while others defend Rodrigo since she recently turned 21.
I, Kailee Roman, believe that fans are forgetting how old Olivia Rodrigo is. She is now an adult and can do whatever she wants. Let her be. I think everyone keeps thinking she is younger because she debuted at a young age. She may act differently than before but this doesn’t affect her success and her influence on her fans.
“I feel like when her music plays I always want to sing along to it, it puts me in a good mood. She is also very relatable with her lyrics so I feel like I’m not the only one that’s experiencing emotions like the ones in her songs,” said Taft senior, Lily Kowalkowski.
At 16, I, Kiara Malave, went on the Sour tour. I had never been to a concert before and was so excited because no other album had spoken to me as much as Sour. It was amazing and it’s an experience I’ll never forget.
At 18, I get to see Guts in two weeks, and the controversy between what she’s wearing or doing is insane. The tour isn’t about what outfit she’s wearing, it’s about the music. An outfit shouldn’t have precedent over the music that made millions of people feel alive.
“I think that she could do what she wants, especially because she’s getting older than when she first started. I feel like as an influential artist she has the right to express her sexuality to show others that it is okay to do so as well,” said Kowalkowski.
I understand that her music is so open ended and that’s what makes everyone love it. However, there is still a human behind those songs that has a creative vision for her music and we have no say in what she does. The only thing we can do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
