Olivia Rodrigo Plays Her ‘First Show’ at the iHeartRadio Music Festival 2021

Olivia Rodrigo’s reached many milestones very early in her career — with a No. 1 debut album and a smash hit in her breakthrough single “Drivers License,” to start — but it wasn’t until this weekend that she played her first real concert, an experience that she described from a Las Vegas stage as “surreal.”

Though Rodrigo has performed for a live audience during one-off televised events, like her appearance at last week’s VMAs, the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Festival had the singer delivering a more substantial five-song set in support of Sour.

She kicked things off with her album opener, the high energy “Brutal,” and then “Jealousy, Jealousy.”

“This is a really special day for me because this is sort of like my first show,” she told the crowd from the fest’s daytime stage on September 18th. “I’m just so grateful that you guys are here with me experiencing this. Thank you so much.”

“Speaking of firsts, this is the first song I put out,” she said, sitting at the piano to begin “Drivers License.” As she played her hit, she encouraged the audience — where some fans were spotted in Olivia Rodrigo and Sour tees — to join in, though she didn’t have to. They were already singing along before she could say “let me hear ya.”

Seemingly overcome with emotion over the experience, Rodrigo gushed, “You guys are just like the best crowd ever. This is amazing.”

Rodrigo’s set continued with “Traitor” followed by “Good 4 U” as the closing number, and then she shouted out a “thank you” to Vegas as she blew kisses and ran off the stage.

Watch the full performance here:

-Aditi