Olivia Rodrigo’s MSG run with The Breeders is thrilling (night 3 pics, review & setlist)

It would’ve been impossible to compete with the cosmic drama that played out across the heavens on Monday (4/8) as a total solar eclipse darkened the skies throughout the country, but traversing Madison Square Garden on a softly glowing moon suspended from the rafters, surrounded by strings of stars, Olivia Rodrigo made a worthy and often thrilling challenge. “It’s a very good day to ride around on a little crescent moon,” she said between “logical” and “enough for you,” the two songs she sang while aloft. It was the third night of her four-show, extremely sold out run at the NYC arena, and she had the crowd in the palm of her hands even before she took the stage; ahead of her set, a cheer and wave of excitement arose as video of a candle holder, spelling out “guts” (the name of this tour and her excellent 2023 album) appeared on screen. The cheers grew deafening as those candles toppled and Olivia took the stage. A once-and-forever theater kid, Olivia is a natural at commanding a crowd, whether strutting along one of two catwalks with her troop of dancers, emoting at the piano for “drivers license” (which got some of the loudest singalongs of the night) and “teenage dream,” or sitting cross-legged with one of her guitarists and leading campfire-style versions of “happier” and “favorite crime.” She shouted out people attending with their best friends, partners, and parents (a very significant portion of the crowd), she “aww’d” over everyone’s outfits and greeted fans at the barricade, taking gifts of sunglasses and an embellished cowgirl hat, and pausing to kiss a child on the forehead. Extremely wholesome! The real highlights of the night, though, came when Olivia delivered the punkier material from Sour and GUTS, as well as “Obsessed,” the St. Vincent-cowritten bonus track from the recent deluxe version of GUTS. For that one, Olivia writhed on the glass catwalk before strapping on a guitar (one of St. Vincent’s signature Ernie Ball models) for the first time in the night, and ending the song attacking a cymbal, joined by another guitarist. Instead of hiding them away behind a screen or relying on a backing track, Olivia featured her backing band prominently, rocking out with them and leading into “brutal” with her two guitarists and bassists soloing in front of a fiery visual before she emerged in a red bodysuit to leap around. Olivia also took a minute to praise The Breeders, who are opening all four NYC shows, saying, “I’m such a huge fan of them, they’re absolute icons, it’s such an honor to play this show with them.” Their opening set, delivered as the room was still filling in, still sounded huge and commanding, and they dedicated the Kim Deal co-written Pixies’ track “Gigantic” to Olivia to close it out. They also spoke with Jenn Pelly for a New York Times piece recently, where they explained how the opening slot happened:

“My first reaction was, Wow, that seems kind of odd,” the band’s bassist, Josephine Wiggs, said in an interview. “But after I’d thought about it for a while, I thought, ‘That’s actually really genius.’” Kim Deal, the singer-guitarist who leads the band with her twin sister, Kelley, said she was surprised when they got the invite. “I’d heard ‘Drivers License,’ and I liked that a lot,” she said, referring to Rodrigo’s breakout 2021 smash. Kelley wondered if it might be a mistake. “I thought, ‘Is she sure? Do they really mean us?’” But Rodrigo made her enthusiasm clear when the shows were confirmed, reaching out personally to share her excitement. “She texted each one of us individually,” Kelley recalled. “And said, ‘Really happy to hear that you’re going to do this,’” Wiggs added. “Very classy.”

They also discussed the crowd at the MSG shows; Kelley told New York Times, “You’re going to be surprised by how loud it was,” adding that their amps were “not louder than 30,000 tweens.” Wiggs told the Times, “Looking out at the sea of 7- and 8-year-olds, I had no idea what to say. I could just about manage to say something to people who are obviously teenagers. I was like, OK, maybe I’ll try to make eye contact with the dads.” Read the piece in full on New York Times. Noah Kahan made a surprise guest appearance at night one of Olivia’s MSG run (they played his hit “Stick Season” together), and the final show is tonight (4/9). See pictures and the setlist from night three below. SETLIST: OLIVIA RODRIGO @ MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, 4/8/2023 bad idea right? ballad of a homeschooled girl vampire traitor drivers license teenage dream pretty isn’t pretty love is embarrassing making the bed logical enough for you lacy jealousy, jealousy Can’t Catch Me Now happier favorite crime deja vu the grudge brutal obsessed all-american bitch Encore: good 4 u get him back!