Tonight (December 9), pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo made her return to the Saturday Night Live stage. In her first musical performance of the night, Rodrigo delivered an acoustic performance of “Vampire” from her critically acclaimed album, Guts.
While on stage, Rodrigo dawned a flashy, silver dress, while sitting at a lush, grand piano. Driven only by her vocals and the keys, Rodrigo tapped into raw emotion, as she sang her way through the power ballad.
Although the studio version of “Vampire” switches up the beat in the middle of the song, this particular performance featured Rodrigo remaining downtempo throughout the song. Surrounding by fog and seated under stars, Rodrigo took command of the stage using pure simplicity.
“Vampire” is one of Rodrigo’s more angry songs. In an interview with NPR, Rodrigo says she finds it therapeutic experiencing a whirlwind of emotions during her live performances.
“I love music that is dramatic and angry and enraged,” said Rodrigo. “I grew up listening to music like that. When I played shows for the last tour, I would look out in the audience and I’d see all these young girls screaming these angry songs, just crying and feeling so many emotions that they could just let out at this concert. That’s not something that girls are encouraged to do on an everyday basis — or, you know, people in general.”
You can see the performance above.