Olivia Rodrigo's GUTS tour has been described as a throwback rock show – complete with a guitar-heavy setlist, a full live band, and Rodrigo herself wielding a custom Music Man St. Vincent.
Her rock-oriented approach to the stage has been attributed to her admiration for the female artists who came before her and her contemporaries, with The Breeders being a key inspiration.
“[Olivia] has talked about how, you know, ‘The Breeders broke my mind — there was pre-Cannonball and there was post-Cannonball,’” Kim Deal tells Billboard. “And I think she likes loud guitars – in this day and age! She finds loud guitars exciting and wants to be around them.”
The alt-rock icons supported Rodrigo on 10 of her recent tour dates, a move that connected one of today’s biggest pop stars with a band who released their debut album in the '90s. You could almost say it's her way of giving back to the artists and genres that inspired her.
“Olivia has this incredible knowledge of and reverence for female artists, in particular people who paved the way for her, like Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow and Bikini Kill,” says Aleen Keshishian, one of Rodrigo's managers.
“Her mom introduced her to a lot of these artists, including The Breeders. I went with her to see them play at the Wiltern [in October 2023] and was so excited to meet Kim and Kelley [Deal] backstage, and they agreed to open for her in New York and L.A.”
Rodrigo further solidifies her rock credentials every night when she picks up her custom Music Man to perform obsessed, the track she co-wrote with Annie Clark of St. Vincent.
“My personal favorite moment is probably obsessed,” asserts Tarik Mikou, the tour's creative director.
“She gets on the plexiglass and starts to look at her audience, but with the camera below [the stage, feeding into the arena screens], it’s just such a strong image. That’s Olivia 2.0: so rock ’n’ roll, so much guitar, so much attitude.”
One of Olivia Rodrigo's guitarists, Daisy Spencer, recently revealed how a stroke of good luck landed her the 1972 Fender Strat she plays onstage.
