Entertainment
Olivia Rodrigo’s documentary takes us on a California road trip. See where she goes
Did you get déjà vu whereas watching Olivia Rodrigo’s “Driving Dwelling 2 U”?
In that case, you’ve most likely visited no less than one of many locations the place the music documentary was shot. Early within the live performance movie, which paperwork the making of the Rodrigo’s debut studio album, “Bitter,” the teenager pop sensation explains why she selected to shoot the undertaking at varied areas in Utah, Arizona and California.
“A lot of the album was written between Salt Lake Metropolis and Los Angeles, and so I assumed it might be enjoyable to do a street journey one final time,” Rodrigo says on the high of the movie, which premiered Friday on Disney+.
“I wish to play the songs in these locations that meant a lot to me and revisit them with older eyes.”
The kid actor-turned-Grammy-nominated musician — who grew up in Temecula — has divided her time lately between the Golden State and Utah, the place her Disney+ present “Excessive Faculty Musical: The Musical: The Collection” is filmed.
Earlier than the record-shattering launch of her first single, “Drivers License,” Rodrigo was rumored to be in a relationship together with her “Excessive Faculty Musical” co-star Joshua Bassett — which allegedly ended within the breakup Rodrigo describes vividly on “Bitter.”
“This relationship was positively the heartbreak that saved on giving,” the 19-year-old singer-songwriter says within the doc.
“I used to be on this scenario the place I needed to see him. He was with another person, which was devastating to me. It felt like my world was ending virtually day by day. No person understood how I used to be feeling or associated to it. … By writing songs about precisely how I felt, I used to be making a good friend for me.”
Along with interviews with Rodrigo and behind-the-scenes footage from studio periods together with her producer, Dan Nigro, the movie additionally options progressive reside performances of just about each “Bitter” observe, from “Good 4 U” to “Deja Vu.”
By performing the songs at a collection of picturesque locations throughout the American West, Rodrigo takes audiences on a mini-tour of her residence state — from Malibu to the Mojave Desert. Right here’s a information to all of the California stops on the “Driving Dwelling 2 U” itinerary.
Purple Rock Canyon State Park
Purple Rock Canyon State Park, California.
(David H. Carriere / Getty Photographs)
One particular person’s mountain climbing vacation spot is one other particular person’s live performance venue. A dramatic orchestral rendition of Rodrigo’s pop-punk anthem “Good 4 U” (across the 38-minute mark within the doc) was shot at Purple Rock Canyon State Park, situated 120 miles north of L.A. and 25 miles northeast of Mojave on Freeway 14.
Should you thought, “God, I want that I may do this,” whereas watching Rodrigo traipse via the scenic desert cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and El Paso mountain ranges, guess what? You may! Purple Rock Canyon State Park is open to guests every day from dawn to sundown. For extra info on mountain climbing, tenting and biking alternatives, go to the California Division of Parks and Recreation web site.
Roy’s Motel and Café
Roy’s Motel and Cafe within the Mojave Desert city of Amboy.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Occasions)
For an intimate efficiency of the heartbreak ballad “Traitor” (across the 50-minute mark) Rodrigo pulls into the country gasoline station outdoors Roy’s Motel and Café, situated within the Mojave Desert on Route 66.
The historic Amboy landmark has served as a dependable relaxation space for weary vacationers for the reason that late Thirties and for a time was thе “оnlу ѕtор tо fіnd gаѕ, a hоt dіѕh аnd a bеd” within the neighborhood, based on the Amboy web site.
Mojave Air & Area Port
The Virgin Galactic hangar at Mojave Air and Area Port.
(Reed Saxon / Related Press)
God, it’s brutal out within the Mojave Desert — which is perhaps why Rodrigo selected to shoot her heavy-metal efficiency of “Brutal” (across the 61-minute mark) in an airplane boneyard on the Mojave Air & Area Port.
An deserted plane overgrown with vines and weeds supplies the proper dystopian setting for an angsty music video about overwhelming insecurity, anxiousness and the shortcoming to parallel park.
La Jolla Seashore, close to Malibu
Sara Wan path via Corral Canyon Park in Malibu, Calif.
(Matt Pawlik)
Towards the very finish of the documentary, Rodrigo embarks on a automotive experience to Malibu. — however not for the music you would possibly count on.
The live performance movie closes, appropriately, with a strings-heavy association of the album’s empathetic coda, “Hope Ur OK” (across the 66-minute mark), filmed at sundown on La Jolla Seashore, simply up the coast from Malibu’s metropolis limits.