Olivia Rodrigo review: Five-star performance at 3Arena in Dublin

“I wrote this song when I was about to turn 19, and I was really afraid of growing up," she tells the 13,000+ crowd. “I am 21 now and I’m so happy and excited for the future. If I could give any advice to my 18-year-old self, I would say growing up is fucking awesome and you’ve no idea how many beautiful things are in store for you.”

 And then she starts to sing ‘Teenage Dream'. It's a ballad about being afraid you've already hit your peak, about worrying what you've given already might be all you have in you. “They all say that it gets better, it gets better, the more you grow / They all say that it gets better, it gets better, but what if I don't?” she wonders.

It's easy to see why a young woman who found fame at just 15 on a Disney show might harbour such fears. Two years ago, when the LA native touched down in Dublin's Fairview Park and Cork’s Marquee as part of her Sour tour, there was a sense that you were witnessing a young star who had been catapulted into superstardom before she was ready. Despite the strength of her debut album's material, the confidence and bravado needed to own such big stages wasn't quite there.

Tonight, as the LA starlet sings those earlier fears aloud, it seems that even she has already dismissed them - the young woman who wrote those words just two years ago has transformed into an out-and-out stadium superstar.

Over the course of an hour and a half on Tuesday night, she commands the 3Arena stage with hit after hit, never missing a dance step or failing to reach a high note. She moves between a piano, acoustic and electric guitars, at one stage even picking up a stick and attacking the drums. She belts out bangers and ballads with equal gusto, rousing up fury on 'Traitor' as she bellows "Maybe you didn't cheat / but you're still a traitor", and lashing out on 'Jealousy, Jealousy' as she cries "I'm so sick of myself, I'd rather be, rather be/ anyone, anyone else".

The all-female band is incredible, as are the dance troupe that appear after the first couple of tunes, but the moments when Rodrigo is alone on stage prove she doesn't need any of them to shine. Her confidence and charisma are palpable. When she boards a crescent moon and floats over each section of the crowd, blowing kisses and divvying out waves like a princess meeting her subjects, it's clear, as she sings on closer 'All-American Bitch', "I know my place / and this is it".

When she reappears for an encore of 'Good 4 U' and 'Get Him Back,' with a megaphone and blasts of confetti, she's changed into sequined hotpants and a tank top that reads "Every guy I like is gaelic”.

The crowd tonight is mostly female. From young girls on their parent's shoulders (one of whom, Ruby, 9, gets a special chorus of 'Happy Birthday' from Rodrigo herself), to tweens, teenagers, young women and beyond. And in this room tonight, the words of our own growing up, and of the growing up to come, are scattered throughout the setlist.

Anxieties, insecurities, rage, jealousy, anger, heartbreak and the sometimes frankly mortifying behaviour that comes with being head over heels for someone.

Tonight's show forms part of the GUTS world tour, and it's the perfect summary of what Rodrigo is doing tonight and why she so easily draws comparisons to pop's biggest star today, Taylor Swift, someone she has cited as an inspiration. She spills her guts up on that stage; lyrically, sonically, physically, and her fans see their own lives echoed and mirrored in that display. 

It feels prophetic that one day she'll be doing her own version of the Eras tour - in fact, if you believe the internet sleuths that Swift's own track 'Clara Bow' is about Rodrigo, it seems pops biggest icon knows it too.

Earlier in the night, Rodrigo asked, “When am I gonna stop being great for my age and just start being good?” on 'Teenage Dream'. She's answered that loud and clear in Dublin tonight.