Olivia Rodrigo made a lot of Bostonians happier during her two-night run at TD Garden.
The 21-year-old singer-songwriter packed the audience with her adoring fans, dressed in shades of her signature purple and ready to belt out lyrics alongside the pop star.
A Disney kid turned number-one hit maker — Rodrigo starred on Disney Channel’s “Bizaardvark” and on “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series".
But Rodrigo skyrocketed to fame in 2021 when she released her debut single, “drivers license,” an emotional break-up ballad (and the first of many song titles stylized all in lowercase). She released her debut album Sour the same year, which chronicled the pains of first heartbreak and won three Grammy awards. Now, she’s on tour for her latest album GUTS, which leans more into pop-rock style and chronicles the anxiety of becoming an adult.
During her Tuesday night show in Boston, Rodrigo dominated her butterfly-shaped stage, singing and dancing with seemingly endless energy while performing the majority of songs from her two albums. She also performed the newly released tracks “obsessed” and “Can’t Catch Me Now,” which she wrote for “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”
Girls sang to “traitor,” a song about someone you’re dating moving on to another partner so fast that it feels like cheating and jumped around to the angry punk beats of “good 4 u.” She floated around the arena for two songs on a giant crescent moon, waving to audience members throughout. Before “teenage dream,” a song about Rodrigo’s fears about getting older and people losing interest in her, she shared how she's grown since writing the song.
“I wrote this next song a few days before my 19th birthday,” she said. “At a time where I was so afraid of growing up, I just dreaded every birthday, thought growing older was the scariest thing. ... I’m 21 now, and I’m so happy and I feel like I know myself so well. If i could give any advice to my 18-year-old self, I would tell her that growing up is the f—ing greatest! You have no idea how much joy and excitement is in store for you.”
Growing up and dealing with the anxiety and pain that goes along with that is a central theme in the pop star’s music. But Rodrigo’s fan base stretches across generations — from teenage fans, young adults, to kids and their parents that bring them to the show. They all credit Rodrigo's songwriting ability for drawing them in.
“I really like her music and I connect to it,” said 11-year-old Gigi Galbo.
“Her lyrics are really good, she has such a pretty voice.” said 12-year-old Ellery Zebrak.
Cassandra Peck, 22, said she relates heavily to the experiences Rodrigo describes in her songs — and thinks younger girls can, too.
“Everyone remembers their teenage years and feeling out of place and figuring out growing up in life,” she said. “For the older people, it's more nostalgic and they can relate because they've been through that.”
Peck said she understands the appeal for adolescent girls, too.
“She gives them something to look up to. I think that’s kind of special because as a little girl myself, I was looking up to artists like Taylor Swift, and their music really defined growing up for me, and I think that's what Olivia is doing for them.”
Taylor Jeffrey thought the same.
“I feel like a lot of girls and women go through the same things and I feel like she’s really shedding light on a lot of those troubles that we have being a teenager. You feel the angsty-ness and you just want to scream.”
Peck saw both nights of Rodrigo’s stops in Boston — but the déjà vu was worth it.
“It was probably the best concert I've ever been to,” she said. “I have never seen TD Garden sound the way that it did. Every single person knew every single lyric to like all the songs. Everyone was screaming, dancing, the energy was just kind of crazy.”
Kerri Marden, who came to the concert with her sister and two young daughters, said she enjoys Rodrigo’s music as much as them.
“I feel like she has more of an edge and a voice than most,” Marden said. “She’s bada—.”
Marden’s sister, Kylie Mazza, agreed.
“I’m 29 and I feel like I resonate with her songs. I feel like I’m 16 again. I feel like she just touches everybody.”
