You can tell how much Olivia Rodrigo’s headline set means to the Mad Cool audience hours before she’s due to hit the stage. When gates open on the third day of the Madrid festival, hordes of young women peg it from the entrance to the barrier, desperate to snag the perfect position from which to watch their pop-rock idol. After the blazing sun has set and a golden moon has risen, those same fans can be seen on the big screens during Rodrigo’s scintillating show, looking like they’re having a biblical experience.
Today (July 12) at Mad Cool is the latest in a slew of festival headline slots for Rodrigo, including an acclaimed turn at Glastonbury just a couple of weeks ago. The spot right at the top of festival line-ups has felt destined for her for some time now, and so far, she’s done nothing but prove she deserves the billing. Tonight is yet more justification of that – a peppy, powerful performance that mixes punky anthems and pour-your-heart-out emotional ballads.
‘Obsessed’ kicks things off with prowling punk energy before there are early airings for cathartic belters ‘Vampire’ and ‘Drivers License’. As the camera pans down to the front rows, the fans who appear on the screens all have one thing in common – they’re crying and screaming every last word with every ounce of their energy.
Rodrigo’s music hits hard because of her knack for crystallising the confusion of youth into short, accessible tunes that stick in the mind. ‘Bad Idea Right?’ has the Villaverde site united in making excuses for ill-advisedly crawling back to an ex, while ‘Love Is Embarrassing’ takes the mortifying mistakes you make when you’re trying to figure out the world (and do so coolly) and subverts them into a empowering, regret-free anthem.
“Has anyone out there ever been in love?” the 22-year-old asks before ‘So American’. “You might recognise this feeling – you know when you’re first falling for someone and you can’t get them out of your head with anything you do?” The crowd in front of her roars back in agreement, confirmation of Rodrigo’s incredibly accurate reflection of a universal experience.
After an impactful run of bangers – ‘Deja Vu’, ‘Brutal’, ‘All-American Bitch’ and ‘Good 4 U’ all taking the energy up yet another notch – Rodrigo clambers onto a small tower, red megaphone in hand. These are her final moments on the Mad Cool stage – and the screens once again turn to the adoring fans in front of her. As ‘Get Him Back!’ begins to play, screams erupt once more, Rodrigo’s importance to her dedicated audience driven home for one last time.
Olivia Rodrigo played:
‘Obsessed’
‘Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl’
‘Vampire’
‘Drivers License’
‘Traitor’
‘Bad Idea Right?’
‘Love Is Embarrassing’
‘Pretty Isn’t Pretty’
‘Happier’
‘All I Want’
‘Enough For You’
‘So American’
‘Jealousy, Jealousy’
‘Favorite Crime’
‘Deja Vu’
‘Brutal’
‘All-American Bitch’
‘Good 4 U’
‘Get Him Back!’
NME is the official media partner of Mad Cool