Olivia Rodrigo’s sold out GUTS World Tour has begun, and so far, it has been nothing but a success. With 77 shows across the US and Europe, many fans have patiently awaited the arrival of the tour and Rodrigo did not disappoint! Rodrigo performs a mix of her more fun, upbeat songs as well as incorporating moments for her slow, lyrical ballads. While clips of her show have shown up on many TikTok For You pages, her performance of “obsessed” in particular has garnered plenty of criticism from parents on the app — unjustified criticism at that.
“obsessed” is a bonus track featured on one of Rodrigo’s limited edition vinyls and many fans were pleasantly surprised to see that it earned a spot on the setlist. In her iconic red sequined bodysuit, Rodrigo gives a sensual, sexy performance of the song that is a clear change in tone and style from the SOUR Tour. While GUTS is a more mature album than SOUR, fans were still surprised to see that Rodrigo left her good girl persona in the past and has really descended into a free, uncensored version of herself on stage. While many are obsessed — pun intended — with this new side of Rodrigo, parents who took their children to see the show are not.
After the first few shows, many videos claiming that the show was not “family-friendly” started to surface on TikTok and other social media platforms. Parents that expected a show for kids need a serious reality check — especially considering the fact that both of her albums are explicit. One listen of “bad idea, right?” and parents should have realized this was not going to be a family-friendly show. Truthfully, they probably heard the non-explicit version of the song on the radio, but if they bought tickets without listening to the entire album, then that’s on them.
Aside from Rodrigo’s music, a little research on the openers for the show could have also provided these parents with information about the tone Rodrigo was aiming for. Chappell Roan has been the opener for all the shows to date and her music isn’t exactly meant for kids. One quick listen to “Casual” would instantly prove that.
Most recently, Rodrigo started giving away Plan B kits and condoms at her shows in St. Louis, Missouri. While most fans were happy to see that Rodrigo was using the success of her tour to spread awareness about reproductive health, some parents were mad that their children were being exposed to such topics. Newsflash: your children aren’t the intended audience at Rodrigo’s show.
The most irking criticisms of the tour so far is the constant comparisons to Taylor Swift’s the Eras Tour. Two completely different artists, with two distinct concerts should not be put side by side. Besides, for the parents that have been saying Swift has a family friendly show, have you seen her performance of “Vigilante Shit”? Quite frankly, there are few artists that can truly put on shows that cater to children. One TikTok user said, “Hot take – not all concerts are made for your 9-year-old so stop expecting them to be.” If parents truly cared about the content their kids were going to, they would do their research on the artists before going to their concert.
Just because Rodrigo was on Disney Channel a couple years ago does not mean she will always be that same innocent Disney star. It’s been years since she has moved on from her Disney days and it’s time for people to recognize that she matured as well.
Rodrigo is a 21-year-old young woman who has full control of her career and artistic choices. It shouldn’t come as a surprise when those choices reflect her age. She said it best in one of her songs on GUTS: “I know my age and I act like it.”