Olivia Rodrigo plays first concert of 2021: “This is a really special day for me”

Olivia Rodrigo has played her first concert of 2021.

READ MORE: Olivia Rodrigo: “It’s important for me to be taken seriously as a songwriter”

While the musician has played several performances at live one-off events, this was her first concert of the year proper, following restrictions brought by the ongoing pandemic.

Speaking to the audience in Las Vegas where she was performing at the iHeartRadio Music Festival, Rodrigo said: “This is a really special day for me because this is sort of like my first show.”

“I’m just so grateful that you guys are here with me experiencing this. Thank you so much.”

She continued: “Speaking of firsts, this is the first song I put out,” she said, sitting at the piano to begin “Drivers License.”

After the performance, which the audience sand along to in unison, Rodrigo replied: “You guys are just like the best crowd ever. This is amazing.”

You can some footage, images and reaction here:

no thoughts just olivia rodrigo’s reaction to hearing a crowd sing her lyrics back to her for the first time ? pic.twitter.com/rw31ygwgqz

— aya (@rodrigossroses) September 19, 2021

olivia rodrigo performing ‘traitor’ live for the first time ever ? pic.twitter.com/C70ajoBvwz

— hq olivia rodrigo (@hqrodrigo) September 19, 2021

“this is my first show” and it certainly won’t be your last olivia rodrigo? pic.twitter.com/GWyTGG6tuP

— mack! is proud of liv (@REIDSBOWEN) September 19, 2021

no words just olivia rodrigo performing the bridge of ‘jealousy jealously’ live pic.twitter.com/xU5zfLQYS8

— hq olivia rodrigo (@hqrodrigo) September 19, 2021

“My name is Olivia, thank you so much for coming” ??? pic.twitter.com/plkd6Wryxu

— Olivia Rodrigo Updates (@LivUpdatesDaily) September 19, 2021

Rodrigo recently performed her track ‘Good 4 u’ at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony.

The live rendition sees Rodrigo backed by a full band, as well as a troupe of choreographed dancers.

‘Good 4 u’ is lifted from her debut album, ‘Sour’, which arrived back in May through Polydor.

Icona Pop and SOFI TUKKER | Friends Like These

After a chance meeting earlier this year in a New York lift, electropop duos Sofi Tukker and Icona Pop went on to collaborate on 'Spa', one of 2020's most irrepressible bangers. For this latest instalment in NME's Friends Like These series, the transatlantic collaborators delve into the creative process behind 'Spa', while also discussing how they've each approached making music while in quarantine and recalling their memories of their first-ever live shows.

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NME gave the album four stars upon its release, writing “pop’s brightest new thing proves she’s not just a flash-in-the-pan, but a multidimensional artist who’s in it for the long haul”.

“With typical Gen-Z versatility, she hops from genre to genre without losing sight of herself and doses her songs with bitingly specific details that go full-circle from being precisely personal to universally relatable.”