Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion is already humming long before Renee Rapp appears, warmed up by support act Cat & Calmell, whose jaunty, sugar-rush pop proves a perfect fit for the room. At one point they even belt out The Veronicas’ ‘4 Ever’, sending a ripple of early-2000s nostalgia through a crowd that’s already singing along. By the time the lights drop for Rapp, the place feels primed and restless.
By her fourth song, the heat and volume have fully peaked and Rapp finally shouts: “Welcome to the Bite Me tour.” It’s her first time in Australia and, technically, her second show of the run. When she accidentally calls it her first, the crowd is quick to correct her, and a playful rivalry with Brisbane is instantly sparked. Brisbane was good, she says. Can Sydney be better? The roar answers before she finishes the sentence.
The show opens with intent as much as excitement. Before the show kicks off there is a video in which Rapp pauses to speak about children suffering around the world, urging the crowd to donate to Save the Children charity with whom she has partnered. Even a dollar can make a difference, she says, stressing that she donates too. It’s a grounding moment that cuts through the frenzy and anchors the night in something larger than spectacle.
The crowd itself becomes part of the theatre. A girl on the barrier appears to be wearing a vulva costume, fans cosplay lyrics, film TikToks, and shout every word back at Rapp. A woman leaps around in high heels with scant regard for personal safety, while the kiss cam sweeps across the room, thankfully free of HR and Managing Directors.
Rapp keeps things conversational. She asks for the house lights to come up so she can see “your little faces”, tells the crowd to show their teeth, and reads their signs. She initially refuses a request to write someone’s next tattoo, eventually relenting and apologising in advance to the tattoo artist for any touch-ups that might be required. “It took me some time,” she admits. “But I talked myself into it.”
Musically, the set moves fluidly between power and precision. She introduces Taryn, her music director, before performing ‘That’s So Funny’. A stripped-back moment, accompanied only by keyboards, that showcases the full breadth of her voice and briefly stills the room.
The heat becomes an ongoing adversary. During ‘Good Girl’, Rapp stops the show to check on fans in distress, parting the crowd and waiting for a thumbs-up before continuing. “It’s very hot in here,” she says. The production leans heavily on visuals, during the song, ten silhouetted versions of Rapp dance behind her, tabloid-style fake headlines flash across the screen, and the kiss cam returns.
During ‘Swim’, she hops down into the photography pit, leaning into the barrier as fans erupt watching themselves meet their idol on the big screen. When she returns to the stage, the room bounces in unison.
‘I Think I Like You Better When You’re Gone’ pushes the emotion higher, phones lighting the room as voices rise to meet hers. ‘I Can’t Have You Around Me Anymore’ follows, which Rapp tells us she really loves. ‘Tummy Hurts’ becomes pure call-and-response, the crowd shouting back entire lines as the bassist locks into a groove and Rapp stretches into her upper register.
A video interlude of mock-interviews are shown before she snaps into the swaggering rush of ‘You’d Like That Wouldn’t You,’ sending the energy surging again, while fake tabloid headlines appear on the screen behind her. ‘Pretty Girls’ triggers a burst of choreography before Rapp halts proceedings once more to help fans struggling in the heat. “It’s hot as fucking hell,” she says, but when chants for a shoey erupt, she shuts them down immediately. “No fucking way.”
She talks about how she wrote the next song in her house and was so proud when it was done as it propelled her forward as an artist. She asks everyone to wave their phones in the air, and launches into ‘In The Kitchen’ but rewrites the geography mid-lyric, namechecking Sydney in place of LA. The Hordern glows. ‘Snow Angel’ follows, a gorgeous ballad made surreal as the lyrics about a winter romance are in contrast to the oppressive heat in the room tonight. Next is a snippet of ‘Not My Fault’ which sends the crowd into one last roar, before she launches into ‘At Least I’m Hot’.
Next stop for Rapp is a performance the Australian Open. Among global sporting stars like Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, she will take her place on one of the world’s biggest stages. Judging by tonight, she won’t just belong there. She may well eclipse them all.
Rapp has one more show at the Hordern Pavilion on 30 January, before the tour moves to Melbourne.
Images Deb Pelser
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