Live Report: Olivia Rodrigo delivers a gutsy Dublin show

“Everything old is new again,” Dublin’s own Jonathan Swift once reckoned – and the satirist’s famous observation certainly rings true tonight at Olivia Rodrigo’s long sold-out 3Arena show.

Perhaps best described as being a bit like Gwen Stefani if the No Doubt singer spent her formative years at stage school instead of D.I.Y. punk gigs, the seriously gifted former High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star has earned an army of admirers with her update of '90s pop and alt-rock, and thanks to her sterling, speaker-rattling second album Guts, which was released last Autumn, she looks destined to conquer the charts and hearts of the globe for a long time to come.

Olivia Rodrigo at 3Arena. Copyright Peter O'Hanlon.

You don’t need a tarot deck to predict that stadiums are surely on the cards for Rodrigo, but before the Doctor Martens sporting California native takes that inevitable next step, she’s kicking off her European arena tour in Ireland’s capital in front of 13,000 or so of her nearest and dearest.

It’s the second night of her brace of Dublin gigs and the unfiltered and unabashed excitement of those lucky enough to bag a ticket is infectious. Opening with a hat trick of treats (the pop punk flavoured, pleasingly snotty ‘Bad Idea Right?’ grungey angst anthem ‘Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl’ and spine tingling ‘Vampire’) the songwriter delivers performances that are both flawless and fun, while her lilac-clad fans sing every single word back to her.

Olivia Rodrigo at 3Arena. Copyright Peter O'Hanlon.

Boasting multiple costume changes, a killer live band, dancers, a Bestie Cam and, at one point, a giant crescent moon which lifts her to the rafters, Rodrigo’s show is a breathless, banger-laden 90 minutes. Frankenstein-ing together the lyrical fearlessness of Alanis Morissette, the irresistible hooks of Garbage and Weezer, and the charisma and stage presence of the aforementioned Stefani, the star serves up monster hit after monster hit. Highlights include breakthrough single ‘Drivers License’ and the distortion pedal-battering set-closer ‘All-American Bitch.’

Coming back onstage for her encore wearing her now customary slogan-emblazoned white tee (tonight’s legend is “Guinness Is Good 4 U”) she ends proceedings on a high with ‘Get Him Back!.’ A tongue-in-cheek tune that fuses slacker rock with a nursery rhyme-like chorus, the song about “sweet revenge” sends the crowd home happy and in little doubt that Olivia’s music is also Good 4 U too.

Olivia Rodrigo at 3Arena. Copyright Peter O'Hanlon.