I’ve been a huge Olivia Rodrigo fan since Sour, so when I found out she was coming to Pittsburgh, I knew I really wanted to go! There was just one problem: Tim was going to be out of town for work.
I don’t usually go on many solo adventures, especially things like concerts. I’m a pretty anxious person and I’m much more used to having Tim or someone else there with me, so I definitely had to consider whether I really wanted to do an entire concert night by myself.
But I also knew I would be so disappointed if I missed seeing one of my favorite artists when she was literally coming to my own city! So I decided I was just going to do it. I got dressed up, called an Uber and headed downtown for my first real solo concert night!
Dinner at Yaba’s Middle Eastern Street Food
I wanted to eat before the concert, so I took an Uber downtown and went to Yaba’s Middle Eastern Street Food. It’s really close to PPG Paints Arena, which made it a very convenient place to stop before the show.
I got a chicken shawarma rice bowl with garlic paste, lettuce, hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, pita chips, and white sauce. It was very good! It was also exactly what I needed before a concert because I knew I was going to be there for hours.
After dinner, I walked over to PPG Paints Arena and immediately realized that I apparently did not get the memo about what everyone was wearing.
I had put together what I thought was a very Olivia Rodrigo inspired outfit! I wore a black dress with white polka dots and lacy accents, fishnets, combat boots and some purple accessories. I was going for a slightly grungier Sour/GUTS kind of look.
Meanwhile, soooo many people were wearing frilly pink outfits. Like, pink was the VIBE.
Olivia’s current aesthetic is obviously much more pink, feminine and floral, which became even more apparent once I saw the stage. So apparently I showed up dressed for a different Olivia era, but I still really liked my outfit!
Another thing I noticed before the concert was that Olivia had tables set up where fans could register to vote. You even got a free Olivia postcard for registering, which I thought was great! More artists should do that.
Wolf Alice Opened the Show
The opener for the night was Wolf Alice. I wasn’t familiar with their music before the concert, so I really didn’t know what to expect, but they were very good! I’ll have to look into more of Wolf Alice’s music because I enjoyed their set.
Then it was finally time for Olivia!
My View From Section 121, Row H
My seat was in Section 121, Row H, and I had been a little nervous about it because it was a complete side view of the stage.
I knew I was going to be close, but I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to see very much of the actual show. There was some equipment between my section and the stage, and from certain angles it did occasionally get in the way, but this ended up being one of the best concert seats I’ve ever had!
A runway came out toward my side of the arena, so whenever Olivia came down it, she was ridiculously close to me. I was honestly shocked by how close I was able to see her. I could usually see her facial expressions quite clearly without having to look at the screen! In fact, I barely looked at the screen during the entire show because I was so mesmerized by being able to see her up close.
The stage was absolutely beautiful. It was covered in thousands of pink and white flowers, and the lighting changed the whole look of them throughout the night. Sometimes everything was pale pink and dreamy, and other times the stage was lit up in much deeper pinks and reds.
It looked SO pretty, both in person and in pictures. And at the beginning of the show, when she emerged from lying in the flowers, the crowd lost their minds! Myself included, of course.
My First Solo Concert Adventure
I was a little worried that going alone might feel awkward or make me anxious, but it really didn’t!
I brought bracelets with me and handed them out to all kinds of people throughout the night. A few people gave me bracelets back too!
I also ended up befriending the two ladies sitting next to me, who had come all the way from Arizona for the concert. We talked throughout the night and they were so nice. So in the end, I didn’t really feel like I was at the concert alone anyway!
Concerts are actually a pretty easy thing to do solo because everyone is there for the same reason. You already know you have something to talk about with the people around you!
Olivia Was AMAZING Live
Olivia was SO good. She is a star and she has never ceased to amaze me since her debut album, Sour.
She sang live the entire time and sounded amazing. She’s obviously a great vocalist on her albums, but hearing her sing in person made me appreciate her talent even more.
She’s also such a fun performer! She had tons of energy, and ran and skipped around the stage a lot, which meant she came down the runway near my section several times. She’s also incredibly expressive when she performs. She’s just so cool.
I also got some of the best concert pictures I’ve ever taken. The combination of being that close, all of the flowers and the lighting made it easy to get some really cool shots. I especially love the pictures where she’s standing in the middle of all the flowers, and one where you can see her performing onstage with her giant close-up on the screen behind her.
And of course there was confetti. And I collected a lot of it.
Another thing that always seems to happen to me after concerts is discovering that I’ve been sleeping on certain songs. This time it was “honeybee” and “expectations.” I liked both of them before, but hearing them live completely changed them for me and now I can’t stop listening to them. I’ve been listening to the new album nonstop, actually, but those songs in particular had so much life breathed into them since seeing them performed live.
Picking Up a Pittsburgh Olivia Rodrigo Souvenir
Before leaving, I stopped at the merch table and picked up a Pittsburgh-specific poster!
City-specific concert merch feels a little more special than just buying something from the general merch collection. Now I have something that specifically reminds me of seeing Olivia here in Pittsburgh, and of doing the whole night by myself.
Then I had to deal with the least exciting part of the night: getting home after a major concert. My Uber home was VERY expensive. And I also paid even more to specifically request a female driver since I was going home alone late at night. Not exactly the most budget-friendly ending to the evening, but I felt much more comfortable doing that, so I’m glad the option was available.
And eventually I made it home!
My First Solo Concert Was a Success!
In the end, I’m really glad I pushed myself to go. It would have been very easy to skip the concert just because Tim was out of town, especially since going to concerts by myself isn’t something I normally do. But instead, I got dressed up, took myself out for dinner, went to the show, handed out bracelets, met some really nice people and got to see one of my favorite artists from one of the closest concert seats I’ve ever had.
Olivia sounded amazing, the stage was gorgeous, my supposedly questionable side-view seat ended up being incredible, and I came home with some of my favorite concert pictures I’ve ever taken.
I’m not going to pretend I’ve suddenly become a huge solo traveler who wants to do everything by myself, but I’m really happy I didn’t let going alone stop me from doing something I really wanted to do.
And I would absolutely see Olivia again, solo or otherwise.
Gallery
