Olivia Rodrigo’s “GUTS World Tour” passed through Columbus on March 22, marking her second time performing in Ohio. She performed songs from both of her albums, with opener Chappell Roan performing songs from her debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.”
Roan took the stage at 7:30 p.m., performing a set that ran about 40 minutes. Featuring hits such as “Casual” and “Red Wine Supernova,” Roan brought an incredible energy to the stage, as well as some unbelievably powerful vocals.
A decent amount of the audience was familiar with Roan, singing along to her set and participating in the iconic “HOT TO GO!” dance. Roan mentioned that Columbus may have had the best participation yet.
Roan was the perfect opening act for Rodrigo. She sported pink cowgirl attire and got the crowd so excited that she could have easily been the headliner of the night.
Chappell Roan opened for Rodrigo, performing songs from her debut album "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess."
I have been a fan of Roan’s music for a while now, but I had never seen her live and wasn’t sure what to expect. Her performance exceeded my expectations, and I was in awe of her stage presence and phenomenal live vocals.
At 8:30 p.m., Rodrigo finally took the stage with her hit single “bad idea right?” The large screen behind the stage began to glow with black and white clips of the singer knocking on an apartment door, then the lights went out and Rodrigo made her way on stage and began the show.
The energy in the stadium was unlike anything I had ever seen — everyone was jumping up and down, screaming along to the songs.
Rodrigo did an excellent job of making everyone in the audience feel like part of the show. Throughout the performance, she would frequently talk to the audience and do fun introductions to her songs.
There were a few moments during the show where Rodrigo would tell specific audience members that she liked their outfits, and frequently audience members appeared on the big screen behind the stage. At two different points, she made her way down to the pit and interacted with the audience members, many of whom gave her gifts.
Rodrigo also made sure there wasn’t a single bad seat in the arena. The stage was shaped like a butterfly, with each wing extending out to the very back of the pit on either side. She used the whole stage, being closer to different sections for different numbers. At one point, Rodrigo performed on top of a floating moon that went around the entire stadium, giving further back audience members a great view for those numbers.
Rodrigo sang on top of a floating moon that moved around the stadium.
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Rodrigo has an amazing stage presence and is so interactive with her audience. I’ve never seen anything like it. Her live vocals are also incredible, and her spectacular performances are all accompanied by some sort of unique lighting, choreography or beautiful backup vocals.
On the same day as her show in Columbus, Rodrigo released “GUTS (spilled),” the deluxe version of her album. This featured the four tracks from the album that were exclusively available on the vinyl, as well as one new song, “so american.” She mentioned this during the tour, and fans got excited, thinking we might get the first live performance of the song.
Sadly, that was not the case.
However, she did add a few special references to the release in the show, such as her encore tank top saying “deluxe” and her coming out wearing an “obsessed” sash, referencing the music video for the song. Afterwards, she threw this sash out into the audience.
This was by far the most interactive concert I’ve ever been to. Before the actual show, Rodrigo’s team had the “GUTS World Tour Bus Experience,” where fans could go to get exclusive merch and get photos with Rodrigo-themed props.
The show was incredible — I’ve never seen anything like it before. On top of the stellar performances, Rodrigo successfully made the entire audience feel like part of the show. Thanks to Rodrigo, there wasn’t a single bad seat in that stadium.
Rating: 10/10
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