[Review] Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour

Just one week ago, 21-year-old Grammy award winner, Olivia Rodrigo kicked off the Guts World Tour and on Saturday night she deemed New Orleans the loudest crowd thus far.

The Rodrigo Effect

New Orleans was preparing for the arrival of the Guts World Tour all week. At local Crumbl locations throughout southern Louisiana, fans could purchase the limited-edition GUTS cookie. The cookie consisted of layers of triple-berry jam and vanilla buttercream sandwiched between two purple cookies rolled in star-shaped sprinkles and a star cutout on top!

On Saturday, Opening Act (an event space connected to Champions Square) turned into the Sour Lounge. For $25, fans could attend a pre-party between 1 and 5 PM. The lounge included complimentary glitter glam-up, hair braiding stations, friendship bracelet making, and a Polaroid photo booth!

The Midwest Princess

The show kicked off with 26-year-old Chappell Roan! It’s been five months since Roan headlined a sold-out show at the Joy Theater in New Orleans. Although her set was shorter this time around, she still managed to deliver that same infectious energy while hitting powerful vocal notes and being unapologetically herself. It’s hard to take your eyes off Roan – throughout her upbeat, energetic, drag-inspired performance she naturally commands a stage whether it’s a club, theater, or arena (and at this rate, stadiums next).

Roan’s 30-minute set was well-crafted. She included fan favorites like “Red Wine Supernova,” “Naked in Manhattan,” “HOT TO GO!” and her hits that went viral on TikTok “Casual” and “Pink Pony Club.” Within the sea of purple and black on Saturday, you could definitely tell there were some Chappell Roan superfans in the crowd as screams broke out when the first cord of certain songs played.

This isn’t Roan’s first rodeo with Rodrigo. She was an opening act for the Sour Tour in 2022. Also, it’s just something about Chappell Roan (a Pisces) opening for Olivia Rodrigo (a Pisces) during the Pisces season. Roan was recently named MTV’s Push Artist for March and she’s performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the first time this Spring! If you’re attending a future date of the Guts World Tour between now and the beginning of April, this is your sign to arrive on time to catch Chappell Roan’s set! We’re getting to watch a star in the making in real-time.

The Spicy Pisces

This is Olivia Rodrigo’s first arena tour but you definitely can’t tell. In 2022, Rodrigo went on tour for the first time ever following the success of her debut album, Sour. She shared she didn’t want to skip any steps in her career and despite her popularity, she played theaters and ballrooms. When tickets went on sale for Rodrigo’s Sour Tour, they sold out in minutes. Plus, resellers were asking for thousands of dollars to see the Grammy Award winner live!

During the show, Rodrigo asked if anyone in the crowd had attended her Sour Tour. And to no surprise, very few people in the audience screamed. Not only was it hard to get tickets but there was not a stop in New Orleans. But when Rodrigo asked if it was anyone’s first concert, screams filled the Smoothie King Center. She thanked her fans for choosing her concert as their first – and a great first concert it was!

Rodrigo is a triple threat – singer, songwriter, and actress, and all three came into play during her hour-and-a-half set. The 21-year-old opened the show with “bad idea right?,” which had the audience singing along at the top of their lungs. She delivered a theatrical performance as she sang the entirety of the Guts album and only cut “hope ur ok” and “1 step forward, 3 steps back” from Sour.

There wasn’t a bad seat in the house. She sailed over the crowd on a floating crescent moon during her performance of “logical” and “enough for you,” giving fans all around the venue a close-up view. And she took her time to engage and chat with the crowd. She shared how she wrote the chorus of “happier” in the middle of filming a scene during a show she was working on (High School Musical The Musical: The Series). The “Guts Cam” showed fans in the crowd. Rodrigo gushed over a couple in the crowd who brought their kids to the show, turning the Guts Cam into a Kiss Cam. Later, she pointed out a fan named Ally in the crowd with a sign that said it was her 16th birthday. Rodrigo (and the crowd) happily sang Happy Birthday to her.

Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour was therapeutic in a sense. It was more than just a performance, it was a celebration of empowerment, self-acceptance, and teenhood. Despite Rodrigo being six years my junior, her music has resonated with me and millions of others – and her concert was a chance for her listeners to come together and belt out our favorite lyrics. The perfect example is Rodrigo encouraging fans to get their anger out by screaming at the top of their lungs as the lights went out during “all-american bitch.”

This is just the beginning for Olivia Rodrigo. Her Guts World Tour proves that she is a force to be reckoned with and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her!