Olivia Rodrigo didn’t just headline the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival on Aug. 29 at Great Park in Irvine, she proved that 23-year-old pop stars who put their mind to it can create a highly successful festival of their own (and close it out with a bang).
Daisy Chain being not only her own inaugural event but an all-female lineup must come with a different kind of pressure than a normal headlining slot: you have to not only perform, but justify why this event needed to exist.
Before she’d sung a note, Rodrigo addressed the crowd of 45,000 with an announcement: $10 million had been raised so far for the festival’s charitable partners, a figure philanthropist Melinda French Gates matched, doubling the total to $20 million.
setlist: Everything she sang at Daisy Chain Fields
She opened with “Drop Dead,” the lead single off her new album, “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” before moving into “Bad Idea, Right?” — a favorite from her “GUTS” era that got an early roar from the crowd.
A few songs in, Rodrigo was clearly moved by the size and energy of the crowd, she paused: “You guys, I feel like I’m dreaming. This is the best day of my f------ life.”
By the time she got to “Maggots for Brains,” its churning chorus of feeling “dirty” and “rotten” landed as one of the set’s rawest moments. The mood of the show shifted from celebration to something closer to catharsis. “Stupid Song” brought the crowd into a full singalong shortly after, but Rodrigo can celebrate joy while encouraging you to let out frustration and sadness at the same time.
Sarah McLachlan didn't just surprise guest star, she carried on a legacy
The night’s first special guest was Sarah McLachlan, who joined Rodrigo for a duet of “Building a Mystery” before staying onstage for a solo rendition of “Angel,” dedicated to the late Dolly Parton. The emotional weight of “Angel” still hits today, with or without the dedication to Parton or anyone else — a reminder, intentional or not, of the lineage running under this whole festival, given McLachlan’s own history founding Lilith Fair.
Rodrigo then said she had bad news and good news to share. The bad news was first, and that Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O was not able to make it due to a personal matter. But she had a secret, Alanis Morissette came instead, and the two sang “Ironic” together.
The end of her set before the encore included both songs off her latest album and her previous one, and though the special guest duets were great, it was nice to see Rodrigo carry the stage by herself. For someone who has a lot of life yet to live, this singer-songwriter's voice carries the power and maturity of someone who's been around for a long time.
The encore featured the last guest of the night: a once-in-a-lifetime duet with Stevie Nicks on “Landslide.” The two twirled together during the guitar-and-keyboard solo and brought a beautiful, playful moment to the otherwise heavy song that brought tears to many people in the crowd.
Will there be a Daisy Chain Fields next year? Rodrigo suggested as much when she told the crowd, “Good night, and I’ll see you next year.”
But Nicks had the last word, telling the crowd Rodrigo had organized this year’s festival mostly by herself, that she felt “awestruck,” and asking fans to “support her.”
Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment for the Desert Sun. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Olivia Rodrigo holds her own beside Stevie Nicks at Daisy Chain Fields
