A sold out Hyde Park crowd welcomes Olivia Rodrigo to the capital as she headlines British Summer Time festival for the first time – and the atmosphere in the field is electric. A sea of purple hair bows and cowboy hats as far as the eye can see, the crowd skewing young and overwhelmingly female, buzzing with anticipation for the headliner. From the moment the all-female band take the stage and dreamy visuals on screen show Rodrigo teetering on a tightrope and falling through the air Alice In Wonderland style before she finally appears, the screams make you wish you didn’t forget your earplugs.
She launches straight into the razor sharp ‘bad idea right?’, and then into the rollicking ‘ballad of a homeschooled girl’ – and it’s an immediate burst of energy, setting the tone for what will be a confident and dynamic set. Surprisingly, Rodrigo pulls out the big ballads early on, with a stripped back piano set including her breakout hit ‘drivers licence’ and the intimate ‘traitor’ coming earlier than expected. Still, there’s no denying the strength of her vocals, which remain on form all night, and the energy is soon back again with the infectious hook of ‘obsessed’.
Rodrigo’s music sits comfortably between the confessional songwriting of Taylor Swift (”happier”) and the pop-punk snarl of Avril Lavigne (”love is embarrassing”). Her confidence and charisma are impressive, even if it doesn’t always feel authentic; jokes about her “trying to be an English girl” and referencing M&S feels like crowd-pleasing fluff, although the story of the English boy who inspired ‘so american’ is a cute moment. And whilst surprise guests are practically a given at shows like this, the arrival of Ed Sheeran still sends the crowd into overdrive, and the duo perform a tender rendition of his early hit ‘The A Team’.
It’s difficult to say if Rodrigo is at her best on heartbreaking ballads like ‘favourite crime’, on bratty cathartic anthems like ‘all-american bitch’, or high-gloss pop gems like ‘get him back!’. But it’s clear she can hold her own across all of them, and her fans love her in every mode (even if many of them seem far too young to relate to lyrics about tripping and falling into a guy’s bed). It’s a slick, confident set from a young star who’s ready to rank amongst the big pop girls.
For more information about BST Hyde Park and tickets to this years shows, visit the official website.
