Judging by the response to the pre-gig soundtrack for the London debut of Olivia Rodrigo - one-time Disney star turned spokeswoman for Gen Z angst - the much-touted teenage grunge revival has been vastly overestimated. A track by Harry Styles took the Hammersmith Apollo roof off, one by Courtney Love’s abrasive alternative rock band Hole left the audience cold.
Yet the crashing power-chords opening Brutal, delivered by an all-girl punk pop backing band, sent this hyped-up teen audience into screaming paroxysms. And Rodrigo emerged every inch the tortured idol; a pristine pop queen in a frilly white skirt, on her knees howling about jealousy, anger, insecurity and obsession, demanding, “Where’s my f***ing teenage dream?” Bawling along to every word, the pop crowd was clearly up for a touch of the hard stuff, if it spoke their anguished language.
