I have to admit, when I told friends I was taking my 14-year-old daughter, Florence, to see Olivia Rodrigo, I did so with an eye-roll and a bit of a “bloody kids, eh?” smirk.
At 48, I’ve got quite a few gigs and festivals under my belt. I was at Knebworth in ’96 and could be found in the mosh pit at countless Britpop shindigs back in the day.
While my record collection spans from the classic ’60s swagger of the Stones to the big-riff grandeur of ’70s Led Zep, taking in the stadium-filling, guitar-squealing anthems of Pink Floyd, my Spotify algorithm tells a different story.
Being subjected to the ‘racket’ of a teenage playlist in the car is the scourge of many a parent, but I have to say, secretly — thanks to my kids —I’ve been introduced to a new breed of alt-pop, punk-pop… call it what you will. And I’m pleasantly surprised to report that pop music is very much alive and well — and I am a fan!
It’s nearing showtime, and as we gently jostle for position amid the fug of Sol de Janeiro and mounting anticipation — this is, after all, essentially Rodrigo’s Glastonbury dress rehearsal (she headlines the Pyramid Stage on Sunday) — I’m suddenly self-conscious that at any moment someone might holler at me: “Oi, Grandad, ELO’s next month!”
As the former Disney actor bounds on stage, the Hyde Park noise levels go up several notches, and Bad Idea Right? is greeted with a delirious tsunami of whoops and screams from teens and tweens (and dads) living their best lives. One banner I can just make out reads: Olivia, I’m obsessed with you.
The hits keep coming. Bad Idea Right? is followed by the Pixies-tinged Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl, and if Vampire isn’t the perfect example of a flawless, three-and-a-half-minute pop song, I don’t know what is.
I look across at my sequin-clad daughter, lost in the moment and singing along. I even turn a blind eye to her joining in with the (perhaps overly) sweary lyrics (shut up, Gramps).
Screaming pubescent girls in purple cowboy hats watch the entire gig through their phone screens, and then the screams go up a few more decibels when Rodrigo thrills the already overexcited crowd even more by nonchalantly bringing out ‘her favourite Brit,’ Ed Sheeran, to duet on his classic, The A Team.
As one perfectly crafted, delicious slice of pop perfection follows the next, it occurs to me that until recently — like many fellow middle-aged music-snob dads — I would have dismissed the warblings of Rodrigo, Carpenter, Roan, Styles et al. as disposable, autotuned bilge.
Far from it. The output from these pop princes and princesses really stands up. These are songs with legs: compositionally sophisticated, rich in infectious melody, and emotionally devastating. ABBA, Pulp and The Cure for the Gen Z, TikTok-cool kids.
Rodrigo’s effortless between-song patter is charming and endearing. She tells the crowd that the capital is ‘her favourite city’ and yells: ‘I f*cking love you, London!’
Her band — made up entirely of women and non-binary musicians — isn’t just making up the numbers behind the ‘talent’: they’re excellent and rightly enjoying every minute of it.
A quick low-key costume change into shorts and a T-shirt, and she’s back for a supercharged, rocky encore of Brutal, the Green Day-esque All-American Bitch, Good 4 U, and — for reasons that weren’t totally clear — she scales some scaffolding and belts out Get Him Back through a megaphone.
Throw in the obligatory fireworks, streamers and pyrotechnics to close the show, and all the boxes have been ticked.
As we turn to leave, I have to suppress my boring dad-rock instincts and resist vocalising them — like: “The opening chords of Brutal remind me of Elvis Costello’s Pump It Up,” or wondering wistfully what a Knopfler guitar solo would sound like on Happier.
“Do you want to get a T-shirt?” I ask Florence as we edge our way, exhausted but slightly euphoric, towards the exits.
“No, I think I’m all right, actually.”
“Oh, OK,” I reply. “Er… do you mind if I get one?”
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
