By Brogan Ringgold
Boston University News Service
Lighting up the stage with her vocal prowess and infamous unfiltered personality, Reneé Rapp returned to TD Garden in Boston on Oct. 2 for the tour for her newest album “Bite Me.”
Rapp’s second album “Bite Me” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart and No. 3 on the overall Billboard 200 chart, earning her her first top ten spot in her career, according to Billboard.
She began the tour on Sept. 23 at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, with Boston marking her fifth stop of the tour’s US portion.
After her stop in Boston, Rapp has 12 more shows, ending in her home city of Charlotte, North Carolina on October 29. She will also take the show to the UK and select parts of Europe in March 2026.
After opener Syd, an alt-R&B and hip-hop singer, took the stage, the 9 p.m. scheduled start of Rapp’s performance was delayed due to technical issues the venue and her team were experiencing.
“Sorry for the delay,” said Rapp in an Instagram story post around 9:24 pm. “We’re having some technical issues we want to resolve before we start so you have the best show possible(!!). be right there. Love you bad xx.”
About 15 minutes later, the show began with her message in support of “Save the Children,” an international charity that provides assistance to children especially in times of crisis. Rapp called out wars, hunger, and genocide across the world, including Sudan, the Congo and Gaza, that endanger the livelihoods of children.
“I would never ask you to do something that I am not doing myself, so I am donating right alongside you,” Rapp said, urging her fans to donate to the organization.
After this message, a pre-recorded skit of multiple versions of herself arguing with each other showed on the screens. The argument ended with one version saying, “Shut the f*** up!” leading directly into her first song of the night, “Leave Me Alone,” which she mixed with another one of her songs, “Everything to Everyone,” the intro track in her first EP, released in 2022.
Rapp confidently soared through her upbeat, pop songs, singing tracks from her first album “Snow Angel” and “Bite Me,” including the album’s second and third singles “Mad” and “Why Is She Still Here?”
The singer then took a moment to slow the pace down, performing stripped versions of her popular ballads with the curtain closed, with just a piano and herself onstage. Here she performed the most anticipated song of the night: “I Hate Boston,” a song not usually on her setlist.
“‘I Hate Boston’ was my favorite song of the night, and she even specified that it wasn’t on her normal setlist,” said Jenn Leishman, one concertgoer and student at Simmons University. “Every single person in TD Garden was losing their [minds].”
Before transitioning back to the main stage setup, Rapp took a lap around the stadium singing “Swim,” off of the deluxe version of her first album. She carried a video camera that shared its live feed on the large screens placed around the stadium.
The effect on the screen was another standout for Leishman.
“The concert itself was technically fantastic,” they said. “One of my favorite visual moments was during her song ‘Swim’ where she went down into the pit and was filming herself.”
Rapp neared the end of night with some of her biggest hits, including the viral song “I Can’t Have You Around Me Anymore,” “In the Kitchen,” and a shortened version of “Not My Fault,” her collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion from the 2024 musical remake of “Mean Girls” – where Rapp reprised the iconic 2000s movie villain, Regina George, from her run in the Broadway musical.
To close out the show, Rapp performed a song that captures what many of her fans love – her humor.
“Even if the whole world hates me, no love lost. If I’m gonna cry, then at least I’m hot,” she sang on the closer “At Least I’m Hot” thanking her band in a way reminiscent of a film’s end-credits.
Rapp also ended the show by thanking her fans for coming out.
“You know I talk a lot of sh*t about this place,” said Rapp referencing her song “I Hate Boston.” “But I guess you guys are pretty nice.”