Charlotte calls Reneé Rapp the ‘hometown hero,’ and she embraces the moment

Even with more than 20 shows under her studded belt, Reneé Rapp was most anxious about the Charlotte tour date, the rising pop star told a sold-out crowd Wednesday night.

Respectfully, her nerves had no place in that room.

The fans corralled between The Fillmore’s many pillars and taped section lines knew — and loved — the 23-year-old Charlotte native before her newfound stardom and “Snow Hard Feelings” tour, which spotlighted her debut 2023 album “Snow Angel.”

I bought into the crowd’s energy early on — before spotting a slew of custom, niche shirts or subjecting my ears to the shrieks Rapp’s dance moves elicited.

Fifteen minutes before Rapp waltzed onto the stage to sing “Talk Too Much” — donning knee-high boots, long denim shorts and a red T with a checkered pattern on the sleeve (a nod to NASCAR, perhaps?) — Taylor Swift’s “the 1” played over the venue’s speakers, and a duo (who presumably had just met each other) began dropping it low to the otherwise sweet, though melancholic, piano-backed song.

The duality within that moment sums up what I’m sure every one of Rapp’s concerts is like — no matter how sad a song may be, fans must not forget what they are there to do: have fun, look hot and remind everyone around them (including Rapp) that they’re hot, too.

Charlotte’s crowd predated Rapp’s now global fanbase, which knows her largely from her role in HBO Max’s dramedy series “The Sex Lives of College Girls” and anticipated role as Regina George in Tina Fey’s upcoming movie version of “Mean Girls the Musical.”

One wore a niche shirt declaring her previous height of fame: her Blumey Awards “Best Actress” title, awarded to Charlotte-area high school theater students. Others would later hold up “you’re our hometown hero” hearts — a nod to both Rapp’s return and her song “I Hate Boston.”

From the barricade to the back bars, people shouted lyrics from “Snow Angel” — which follows her 2022 debut single “Tattoos” and EP “Everything to Everyone” — with the same fervor I experienced at The Eras Tour.

The second song of the night, “Poison Poison” drew out the most coordinated serenade of the night, as fans lovingly shouted the expletive-filled lyrics at Rapp.

Their commitment to sing all Rapp’s words back to her continued through the set list, peaking with hand-raising songs like “Pretty Girls,” “Too Well” and “Colorado,” and manifesting as surprisingly on-pitch choruses during slower songs like “Willow,” “Gemini Moon,” and “The Wedding Song.”

The Fillmore’s “Mosh or crowdsurf at your own risk” signs were a mute warning for the respectful crowd, though Rapp’s encore performance of the title track “Snow Angel” still set off a flurry of head bangs.

And while Rapp wasn’t the chattiest between songs, she took time within the short 16-song set to read signs — including one that read “I’m gay but would be bi for you” — poke fun at herself, and check on fans.

“I know, everyone is so surprised,” she said sarcastically, segueing into “Gemini Moon,” a self-reflective song on her tendencies in relationships. “She’s bisexual, she talks about her f—cking star sign.”

When one front-row fan looked faint during Rapp’s “I Wish” performance with opener Alexander 23, she stopped the show to get the fan water and shower her with compliments.

“No one’s ever looked that hot passing out before,” she said at the end of the show before declaring the night “The Best Hometown Show Ever.”

Reneé Rapp Set List

Talk Too Much

Poison Poison

Willow

Colorado

Pretty Girls

23

Tummy Hurts

(with Towa Bird)

I Hate Boston

So What Now

Tattoos

Too Well

Gemini Moon

The Wedding Song

I Wish

(with Alexander 23)

In the Kitchen

Encore:

Snow Angel