Olivia Rodrigo launched The Unraveled Tour on its opening night at People’s Bank Arena in Hartford, Connecticut, with a stage effect that had fans talking well after the encore.
During a performance of “The Cure,” from her third studio album, the 23-year-old singer wore a baby blue pleated mini dress that appeared to dissolve under a rain effect on stage, revealing a red latex outfit underneath. Rodrigo later changed into a tank top and jeans for an encore that included songs from her earlier albums, “GUTS” and “SOUR.”
Writing online after the show, Rodrigo called the night “magic” and said she had been planning the production in her head for a year. She thanked collaborators @esdevlin, @husseinchalayanofficial and @humanprsn for their work on the staging, and told fans, “Can’t wait to see more of yall on the road!!!!”
The Unraveled Tour is Rodrigo’s third headlining tour and her first in support of her latest album, “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love.” The run includes 86 shows across North America and Europe and is scheduled to close with two nights at London’s O2 Arena on May 10.
A $20 Million Festival Before the Tour
The Hartford show followed a high-profile fundraising moment weeks earlier at Rodrigo’s inaugural Daisy Chain Fields music festival in Irvine, California, where the singer’s headlining set helped raise $20 million for women-focused nonprofits.
Before performing, Rodrigo announced that Melinda French Gates would match donations dollar for dollar after an initial $10 million had already been raised. Rodrigo described Gates as “one of the most inspiring women I’ve ever met” and praised her work “empowering women and girls that might have otherwise been forgotten.”
Gates joined Rodrigo on stage during the event.
“Look at what you have done,” Gates told Rodrigo. “Look at what you created! What I love about you is that you know that real power is not up here on stage, it’s with everybody there, all of you. When women and girls come together to dream and to lead, we change the world.”
Gates, the former wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, added that the organizations funded by the festival would continue their work “long after the lights go down.”
The $20 million raised will be split evenly among ten organizations: Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center for Reproductive Rights, FreeFrom, Jhpiego, Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women’s Law Center and Planned Parenthood.
