Olivia Rodrigo started her GUTS World Tour back in February, and now that we know the basics of what the tour consists of, I’m going to break it down for everyone.
OPENERS
Olivia has three openers for the North American leg of the tour. First up, we have Chappell Roan, who draws inspiration from drag queens and pop divas. She’s originally from Missouri and had a start similar to many of today’s stars: she uploaded a YouTube video at 17, which led to her signing a record deal. Her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, has been received by the internet with open arms. I can’t help but do the “HOT TO GO!” dance and listen to her music on repeat!
Next, Olivia’s four-show run at Madison Square Garden from earlier this week was opened by The Breeders, an alternative rock band based out of Ohio. The band originally formed in 1989 with members of the Pixies, Throwing Muses, and Ed’s Redeeming Qualities. Currently, the band is gearing up for their upcoming tour of Europe, but they’ll be back to open for Olivia in the last four shows of the GUTS tour.
The Europe leg of the GUTS tour has an artist I only recently discovered and now have an unhealthy obsession with: Remi Wolf. Wolf was originally a contestant on American Idol back in 2014, but she took time off to finish her undergraduate in 2018 and made a comeback in 2019. She’s now signed to Universal Music Group and her first album, Juno, was released in late 2021 (psst… if you haven’t listened to it, you should go do that… like right now). Wolf has done many notable things like open for Lorde, perform with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and release songs with artists like Frank Ocean. Her sophomore album is set to be released in July, after her time on tour with Olivia.
PinkPantheress will open for Olivia on the second North American leg. Her songs tend to be shorter, meaning she will likely get to showcase more of her discography than other openers. PinkPantheress gained her fame from viral songs on TikTok and is also the winner of BBC’s Sound of 2022 award. That same year, she opened for Halsey and her single “Boy’s a Liar” went viral, enough so that “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2” was made featuring Ice Spice. She is currently working on her debut album and collaborating on songs with artists like Stray Kids and Troye Sivan.
SET LIST AND COSTUMES
Despite beginning with 22 songs, Olivia’s set now has 23 songs with the addition of “Can’t Catch Me Now” from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which joined the set list starting with her show in Miami. In addition to the single, she plays 12 songs from GUTS, 1 from GUTS (spilled), and 9 from SOUR.
During the first six songs, she wears a silvery two-piece set consisting of a silver skirt and one of at least two variations of a bralette top. The first six songs are, in order, “bad idea right?,” “ballad of a homeschooled girl,” “vampire,” “traitor,” “drivers license,” and “teenage dream.”
For her second outfit, Olivia wears a black two-piece set, this time with shorts instead of a skirt. She wears this for the next three songs: “pretty isn’t pretty,” “love is embarrassing,” and “making the bed.”
Next, Olivia adds a chainmail skirt overlay to the black two-piece and sits on a flying moon prop for the next two songs: “logical” and “enough for you.” After getting off the moon, Olivia proceeds to sing seven more songs: “lacy,” “jealousy, jealousy,” “Can’t Catch Me Now,” “happier,” “favorite crime,” “deja vu,” and “the grudge.”
Olivia finishes out the main segment of the tour in a body suit with a deep V-neckline. This outfit is usually red, but there is also a hot pink variant. She sings three songs in this: “brutal,” “obsessed,” and “all-american bitch.”
Finally, Olivia finishes up the show with a two-song encore, coming out in sparkly silver shorts and a white baby crop top with a design that changes every show. Since the release of the “obsessed” music video, Oliva has repeatedly added a sash to reference the video. These two closing songs are “good 4 u” and “get him back!,” the latter of which is sung with a red megaphone.
On two occasions, a surprise guest artist has taken the stage with Olivia to perform one of their songs. Sheryl Crow joined her for a performance of “If It Makes You Happy” in Nashville, and just last week Noah Kahan joined Olivia in a performance of his song “Stick Season.”
GUTS (spilled)
By now, everyone has heard and listened to the deluxe version of the album, titled GUTS (spilled), which has five new songs, but I wanna talk about how she announced it on tour. While performing the final song of the show, Olivia and her dancers use paper props to represent the line “So I write him all these letters and I throw them in the trash,” but on March 19, the “letters” opened to announce the streaming release of the four previously vinyl-exclusive songs and one brand new one. Olivia- standing in the center- opened her sign to reveal the words “GUTS DELUXE OUT FRIDAY” while her dancers stood around her holding up the five track titles.
I think this is a really fun tour for both Olivia and her fans. It really shows how far Olivia has come since her Disney Channel days. If you get to go, just remember to learn the “HOT TO GO!” dance before you do!