Olivia Rodrigo spilled her guts in Birmingham with a dynamic, glittering performance at the Utilita Arena. The world tour follows the release of her sophomore album GUTS and fans have been anticipating hearing these tracks live ever since. Utilita Arena and its surrounding areas turned into a sparkly, purple wonderland with concert-goers dressed for the occasion.

A little while after doors opened, opening act Remi Wolf took to the stage. Her set was incredibly lively and showcased her music brilliantly, even including a live debut of her latest track ‘Toro’. Remi Wolf will have definitely picked up many fans after that performance, myself included.

The stage was then illuminated by a visual which depicted giant purple candles which spelt ‘GUTS’ and they slowly melted as we approached Olivia Rodrigo’s set. Once the candles had finally burnt out the crowd erupted into a thunderous roar before Rodrigo appeared on stage under red lights for ‘bad idea right?’. The singer confidently strutted around the stage in her glittery silver two-piece, the edgier track being a great way to open the set. We don’t have a second to catch our breath before we kick straight into ‘ballad of a homeschooled girl’. Just two songs in and the energy in the arena was already palpable, every word screamed passionately back at Rodrigo as she danced across the stage. 

‘Vampire’ followed, a powerful ballad which exploded into a pop-rock symphony, showcasing Rodrigo’s talent as a vocal powerhouse

Rodrigo lovingly welcomed everyone to the show and encouraged us to ‘jump around and sing at the top of our lungs’. ‘Vampire’ followed, a powerful ballad which exploded into a pop-rock symphony, showcasing Rodrigo’s talent as a vocal powerhouse underneath the light of a bright moon projected onto the stage. We are then submerged into dim purple lights and into the melancholy melodies of ‘traitor’. Towards the end of the song, dancers enter the stage continuing to impressively command the stage as Rodrigo exits. 

After a sudden flash of darkness, Rodrigo reappears this time sat at a piano, purple fog flooding the stage as she begins to play her hit single ‘drivers licence’. She shares how she wrote the next song, ‘teenage dream’, right before she turned nineteen, a time where she was afraid of growing up, but now at twenty-one she recognises growing up to be a beautiful thing. From one emotional piano ballad to the next, this part of the set was immensely delightful; phone torches illuminated the arena as the crowd sang along with impressive volume. 

Again we are left briefly in darkness, before Rodrigo is raised back onto stage under a pink light, now in a black two-piece and surrounded by her dancers who are holding mirrors to their faces. They dance elegantly and uniformly with their mirrors as Rodrigo begins to perform ‘pretty isn’t pretty’. The pace is bought back up by ‘love is embarrassing’ and we are plunged back into Rodrigo’s rock-and-roll world once again. She joins her dancers in their animated choreography which elicits a roaring response from the crowd. Taking a moment after the consecutive run of songs, Rodrigo introduces her wonderfully talented band, bassist Moa Munz even taking her moment to play a quick Black Sabbath riff. 

We are fully immersed into Olivia Rodrigo’s dazzling, starry world as she sings ‘logical’ and ‘enough for you’ from her magical heights. 

Rodrigo lays down on the stage as she begins to sing the emotionally charged track ‘making the bed’, the area she is laying on slowly raising her into the air. One of the most spectacular moments of the set follows; illuminated stars drop down from the ceiling and Rodrigo floats above the standing area sitting on a purple crescent moon. We are fully immersed into Olivia Rodrigo’s dazzling, starry world as she sings ‘logical’ and ‘enough for you’ from her magical heights. 

Up next is ‘lacy’ and another display of impressive choreography, the dancers using the long bows in each other’s hair to gracefully move around the stage. Rodrigo takes another moment to talk to the crowd, expressing her love for England and English things- namely jaffa cakes and chocolate digestives. In true popstar fashion she bashfully states it makes her ‘feel so American’ and just like that she grabs her guitar and is playing ‘so american’. She follows up with a string of songs from her debut album SOUR which the audience went wild over. 

Our final ballad of the evening took the shape of ‘the grudge’, an authentically raw performance which featured just Rodrigo and her microphone on stage. She exits the stage once again and it lights up with fiery visuals as the band play the electric riff of ‘brutal’. She returns in a sparkly red romper and begins singing instantly. Her stage presence is unbelievable, she works the arena with effortless style and charisma as she dances across the V-shaped stage. The energy in the arena only increases as ‘obsessed’ begins to blare out. At the end of the track she grabs her electric guitar and the whole band doesn’t hold back in a fantastic rock instrumental.  

The crowd raises ear-splitting amounts before Rodrigo races back on stage for the encore

Concluding the main set is ‘all-american bitch’ but the unrelenting sequence of vivacious hits has not come to an end quite yet. The crowd raises ear-splitting amounts before Rodrigo races back on stage for the encore which saw an explosive performance of ‘good 4 u’ and ‘get him back!’. During the final song star-shaped confetti fell down from the sky as Rodrigo and her dancers vivaciously partied on stage. 

Five outfits, twenty-three songs and almost two hours later the show ended with a deafening, and justified, cheer from the crowd. The GUTS World Tour proves Olivia Rodrigo is one of the best popstars and live performers of this generation.

---

Enjoyed this? You might also enjoy:

A Beginner’s Guide to Olivia Rodrigo

Single Review: girl in red (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)- You Need Me Now?

Album Review: Maggie Rogers – Don’t Forget Me