On the jubilee line, I was swarmed in a sea of twelve to thirteen year olds in sequin tops and cowboy hats. I was texting my friend, 'how long will you be?' as I wondered as a 23 year old if I was too old for this concert?
However, when I got to the 02, I went into All Bar One as to give me a good indicator of what other age ranges there are. May I add, that my mother on the phone told me to go get a drink when I said I felt stressed that I would never find my friend. So on my mission to work out the age demographic, I ended up at the bar with an Aperol Spritz. Not sure whose bank account I thought I had. After feeling transformed by my cocktail - I just saw a TikTok about how the your mood lifts drinking it - I found my friend.
That's not to say, a bit of stress still lurked as I am one of those concert goers that wants the FULL experience that I paid for. I want to soak the atmosphere of the venue, watch the full support act and genuinely not rush a gulp of £90 worth tickets. There was a long queue to get into standing so I would recommend people getting there around 6pm if you want to watch Remi Wolf.
My friend and I were surprised that the standing section was relatively empty when we went in (again, we queued around 6pm) and realised Miss Rodrigo would be floating above our head. Was this a health and safety concert? There are bars and food places around the standing area, which could save you time but not save in terms of money. To be honest, I paid around £8 something for a Budweiser and that was enough to last. Unless I fancied my friend through an SOS flame into the air to find me if I went to the loo, which frankly I didn't.
Remi Wolf the support act was FANTASTIC and she hit the stage at around 7.30pm. I highly recommend watching her if you are a fan of indie-pop or pop music as she is definitely an artist on the rise. Yet, some of her big songs 'Disco Man' and 'Photo ID' are bops that were quite popular. But, yeah she is a fun warm up and I would of paid to watch her own tour if I'm honest.
FINALLY, the glittery, sparkly, teenage rage fuelled Olivia Rodrigo comes on around 8.30pm. I have to say, there was a lull in atmosphere in between Remi and Olivia as the music was too quiet to hype anyone up - apart from the classic Mexican wave that awkwardly dies out. Olivia's set starts pretty upbeat but I found it strange that Vampire was played so early on. I theorised that vocally this a hard song so maybe she wanted to do it earlier in the show? Who could blame her. Considering this song has done so well, there wasn't a huge build up to it and it got a bit lost. Again, I'm biased as this is one of my favourite songs.
In the middle of the set, the arena turns into a sleepy, starry night and feels as if you are listening to a headspace podcast. This is a short pause before Olivia is soaring across the arena on a DreamWorks style crescent moon. If you really want to wave to her, I would recommend looking up at the path way that is constructed as we had her back to us, being in the centre of standing.
I would prepare your lungs and energy levels for the last part of the set. It was like being blasted out of a confetti cannon as each song was more rockier than the last. Brutal started off the whole 'I hate my life but I'm so cool' style song and rocky, chaotic songs and moved onto obsessed, all-American bitch, Good 4 u, Get him back! I was exhausted by the end but I 've never seen so much energy in the last part of a concert set - it was like a cathartic therapy session.
Getting out of the 02 wasn't awful, I would stay for the last encore songs (G4U and GHB) as they do conclude the whole show with a literal bang of multi-coloured stars. It's a tiring concert to say the least and I have written this curled up on the coach with aching feet. However, the camera shots of little girls with their mums in glittery tops echoed little me watching Miley Cyrus when I was 8. So, whether you are 12,13, 23,40, everyone needs a bit of girl pop that just gives them a chance to unwind and scream about their exes!
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