Natalie Else

A mass mania of red and purple. A roar of teenage girl excitement. A wavelength of emotions caused by power ballads and intense, pop-rock ragers. How does one begin to sum up such a cathartic experience especially when it involves THE Olivia Rodrigo? 

On Wednesday, March 13, Olivia Rodrigo came to perform her GUTS World Tour Concert at CHI Health Center. Prior to the concert that began at 7:30 p.m, my friends and I indulged in the true teenage girl pre-concert experience by dressing head-to-toe in sparkly skirts, purple tops, and high-top converse, accessorizing with butterfly clips, star earrings, and heart necklaces all while jamming to her non-skip discography. As our nerves and excitement grew, both the concert and Olivia became more real to us.

In total, Olivia sang 23 songs and let me just say, I have never experienced such emotional whiplash. She hooks the crowd in with the punchy, pop-rock anthem ‘bad idea, right?’ where my friends and I literally could not hear our thoughts. A few songs later, she has the whole arena crying over the relatable ballad that is ‘teenage dream,’ where she reflects on her internal fears of growing up while playing videos of her younger self on the stage screen. 

Olivia beautifully captures the ups and downs of being a teenager through her music. This was my first concert, and it is hard to believe that any other concert could give me the same release as hers. 

Now, of course, I must mention prices because being a teenage girl can be expensive nowadays. One concert ticket was $100 and for my 2 friends and I to attend, the total cost was a little over $300. However, Olivia is of high demand considering that she is ranked the 27th artist in the world with over 60 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Trust me when I say that the concert was worth every penny and I would have taken an extra shift or worked an hour more just to get even an ounce of this vibrant experience.

Olivia’s stage presence is simply top-tier and definitely helped contribute to the “let-loose” atmosphere. She unapologetically dances on stage during her upbeat anthems and at some points, faces the microphone toward the crowd allowing us to ‘pour our little hearts out.’ She continuously gets her fans roaring with excitement after throwing out little phrases such as “Omaha, are you still with me?” and asking fans to scream as loud as they can in “3,2,1,” prompting the most chaos you will ever see. Her love for her fans is extremely evident when she walks off stage to run across the barricade of people, giving them hugs and high-fives, certainly giving me a sense of ‘jealousy, jealousy.’ 

You may have noticed that I have refrained from using the word fun because “fun” cannot sum up how my voice was almost completely gone by the second song, the pure excitement I got when Olivia flew over the arena on a lit-up crescent moon singing my favorite song from GUTS, ‘logical’ and the absolute satisfaction when I got to scream the lyric “I’m so sick of seventeen” as a 17-year-old girl. I guess you could say I was utterly obsessed. 

I feel obligated to mention that Omaha was crowned one of the loudest crowds Olivia has ever seen. In addition to this huge achievement that I don’t think I can ever live down, there were other moments throughout the concert that definitely deserve more recognition. One of the ones that really stood out to me was Olivia noticing that it was someone’s 16th birthday and then asking 17,000 people to sing happy birthday to “the pretty girl in the pink dress.” It was truly such a sweet moment to witness and her interactions with the fans the rest of the night felt so genuine.  

After Olivia asked if we had time for one more song, the edgy and most definitely catchy “get him back!” began to play. Despite my bittersweet feelings about having to say goodbye to such a memorable night, I couldn’t help but ignore all those feelings and continue to scream my little heart out. Confetti fell from the sky, signifying the near end of the concert, and my friends and I watched in amazement as the already glowing arena became even more dazzling. In her last few moments on stage, Olivia continued to rock on with her band until she made her incredible exit, running across the barricade for the last time. 

Being able to spill my guts out with a room full of 17,000 people while simultaneously sharing unforgettable moments with friends was truly a transformative experience. Similar to Olivia’s honest, yet somewhat regretful feelings towards her ex, I would love to get this back.