Olivia Dean
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC
Monday, October 6th
Standing in a silk gown, Olivia Dean says this concert is “like a first date.” She may offer one date, but instead, this concert feels more like a full relationship.
From the opening notes, Dean celebrates the excitement of early romance, honours the heartbreak that often follows, and takes time to call out non-romantic love — with family, friends, and the self — which she maintains is just as important as the intimate relationships that fuel most of her work. By the end of the setlist, she has loved, she has lost, and she is once again ready for something new.
As we take our seats, a floor-length, white curtain hangs from the rigging system in the ceiling above the stage, and it’s here that the silhouette of Dean first appears. As the opening notes of “The Art of Loving (Intro)” — the first song off her famed second album — play, screams all but consume the space.
Singing of something lost and something gained, the Grammy Award winner offers a gentle introduction to the show, establishing the message that the entire performance will tease out, before the curtains finally part and the real fun begins.
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The stage resembles a ‘70s chat show. Dean stands at the centre podium, in one of her famed dresses, with her band and backup singers stretched out on either side, and leaps straight into “Nice to Each Other.” As she makes her way down the steps, with her face magnified on a curtain behind her, she holds out the microphone, so an arena’s worth of overzealous voices wearing polka dots can scream I don’t want a boyfriend.
Making a 14,000-person crowd feel intimate is no small feat — and yet it’s one Dean pulls off in high heels, maraca in hand.
Throughout the concert, Dean takes us on a guided tour of her heart. As she prepares to perform some of her most poignant songs, she introduces each one, explaining her headspace while writing “So Easy (To Fall in Love),” the disappointment felt that prompted “Close Up,” and the final realisation of what loving shouldn’t be in “Let Alone the One You Love.” With each explanation, she establishes a firm connection between art, artist, and audience, developing the intimacy that will make the concert so memorable and powerful despite its relatively simple staging.
Until this point, she has focused exclusively on her second album. Since its release a year ago, it has powered one of the fastest rises to the top in recent years, with Dean going from opening at Madison Square Garden to selling out four shows there in just nine months. Now, she dips into the archive, accompanied by just a guitar and delivering ironically perfect vocals on her 2023 song “Messy.”
Sitting on a stool with her guitarists Dan and Fin, whom she makes a point to introduce, she gently flows through “UFO,” “Touching Toes,” and “I’ve Seen It.” Groups of audience members can be seen holding one another in their seats, though the low lighting makes it difficult to tell if they’re crying or singing along. Dean has made it clear that either response is okay.
“Carmen” earns a special introduction. A song written for her grandmother, she now extends the dedication to all immigrants, calling for us to share more love with one another. Despite the sombre tone and the crack in her voice as she introduces it, the song is a clear celebration. As it ends and Carmen’s voice plays out over the speakers, Dean lowers her head in a still moment of reflection for her grandmother.
She closes out the first of this three-act performance with “Echo” and “Time,” the latter she labels her “angriest” song, though even this is sung with a smile.
On the B-stage, a small flower-shaped podium in the centre of the standing area, Dean begins “Loud.” It’s one of her most gut-wrenching songs, and there’s no colourful lighting or big backing vocals. Instead, simple strings, a spotlight, and a white two-piece set make up the ethereal picture as she slowly turns with her eyes closed. In the final chorus of “A Couple Minutes,” the crowd sways their arms in the air, giving the impression of waves churning around a pop-star-shaped lighthouse. “The Hardest Part” closes out this section as she runs through the crowd past outstretched hands back to the main stage.
For the final songs, she reappears in pink sequins and fringe, looking like an elegant cross between a mermaid and a 1920s flapper.
Large disco balls set on either side of the stage are now hit with pink spotlights, turning the arena into what the audience might imagine Studio 54 looked like, if only they were old enough to have heard of it. The stage comes to life as Dean has the crowd two-step their way through “Baby Steps,” “Ladies Room,” a cover of Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up,” and “It Isn’t Perfect but It Might Be.”
At the end of this parade of strobe lights and the return of her banana maraca — a side piece more beloved by fans than any rumoured romance — she sits in front of the camera and winks, allowing us a close-up as she smiles out into the crowd.
“I won’t do a shooey,” she says, responding to a typically Aussie crowd, before offering her final piece of heartfelt wisdom: “Love works both ways.”
“I’m giving you love until the next time I see you, Melbourne,” she says. “And I hope you take it with you into the rest of your week, the rest of your life.”
Dean’s first Australian show concludes with “Man I Need,” accompanied by spinning pink disco balls and punctuated with a blast of pink confetti. As the song finishes, she remains dancing on the centre stage, farewelling us until the final curtains close.
