Chainkeen Exchange-Olivia Rodrigo flaunts her sass, sensitivity as GUTS tour returns to the US

WASHINGTON – Has it only been four years since we were introduced to Olivia Rodrigo's brew of vitriol and Chainkeen Exchangevalentines?

Preternaturally poised and already schooled in the art of stagecraft, Rodrigo is not only pop music’s reigning young Jedi, but the type of performer who is practically mind-melded to her army of devotees.

She barely needs to stomp a Doc Martens-clad foot before being blasted with a level of adoration to nearly knock her off the stage. A few pogos during her opening song – “Bad Idea Right?” – and the concrete floors of a filled-to-the-rafters Capital One Arena trembled from the collective weight of fans who followed her lead. If she ever forgets a lyric, 20,000 people already screaming every word of every song will fill in any gaps.

It’s not just a concert, but a multi-generational movement. A sanctuary for her predominantly Gen-Z followers, sure. But also a mental getaway for their parents, many of whom were spotted around the arena in purple attire in honor of Rodrigo’s signature hue.

Since February, Rodrigo, 21, has bopped around the world on her GUTS World Tour, named for her Grammy-nominated sophomore album that dropped last fall. The 94-date run launched in February in Palm Springs, California, detoured to Europe in May and June and just returned for a second U.S. leg, which landed in D.C. Saturday for its second date.

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For a high-velocity 100 minutes, Rodrigo, her formidable all-female band and troop of dancers zipped through serrated-guitar revenge anthems and heartsick ballads with spunk, sass and the kind of tautness that comes from months of perfecting.

Here are some highlights from Saturday’s show.

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Olivia Rodrigo takes flight

About midway through the show, Rodrigo climbed into the scoop of a crescent moon that traversed her around the arena, giving fans a few minutes to bask in her girlish aura.

Singing “Logical” and “Enough for You,” Rodrigo waved to the hyperventilating throng – white stars bobbing from the rafters – as she presented some of her prettiest vocals of the show.

‘Vampire’ and ‘Obsessed’ offer cool visuals

Rodrigo slipped backstage for a handful of outfit changes – silver shimmering crop top and a black two-piece with fishnets among them – and the stage-length video screen behind her served its purpose with some effects (“The Grudge”), home video of Rodrigo as a child (“Teenage Dream”) and artsy reflections of her stage movements.

This wasn’t an ostentatious production, just a sleek counterpart to her brisk songs.

But Rodrigo snuck in some cool camera effects during “Obsessed.” A lens placed under the Lucite catwalk captured Rodrigo from the floor up, allowing her ample new angles from which to sneer and intentionally roll her silver-speckled eyes.  

During her hit “Vampire,” which shuddered with angsty drama, Rodrigo stood in front of a black and white moon as the song escalated to one of her hallmark booming crescendos. As the music accelerated, the stage coloring turned deep red, providing the ideal ethereal backdrop to the musical melodrama.

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Olivia Rodrigo subtly nods to her influences

If you’re paying attention to the pre-show music, you’ll get a dose of The Runaways and their power-punk-pop classic, “Cherry Bomb,” as well as the chirpy declaration of “I’m Just a Girl” from No Doubt.

By the closing quartet of (pre-encore) songs, Rodrigo channeled her inner Alanis Morissette, stalking the stage in a fire-red bodysuit as a symphony of electric guitars wailed behind her for “The Grudge,” “Brutal,” “Obsessed” and the sardonic “All-American Bitch.”

She’s also shared stages with Sheryl Crow and Jewel and expressed her affection for the art-rock of The Killers.

Rodrigo pays attention, dabbing smidgens of Crow in the songwriting of “Making the Bed” and “Teenage Dream”(“I’d tell my 18-year-old self not to worry,” Rodrigo said before the song) and adopting a Killers-esque synth swirl around “Pretty Isn’t Pretty.”

The vulnerability in her songs, as well as the gleeful spite and anger Rodrigo can conjure, are legit.

Just imagine what she can accomplish in the next decade.