“This was by no means a long tour” says Charli xcx as she addresses the audience in Glasgow at the final show of her celebratory brat arena tour. “Four shows. Four iconic shows”. Four iconic shows to end an incredible year for an artist who has defined 2024 and for whom many thought she would never reach this level. Tonight’s show is both a celebration and confirmation of Charli xcx’s ascension from beloved pop niche legend to top tier culture-shifting icon.
The Brat phenomenon has been a constantly evolving thing ever since Charli set the ball rolling back in February by releasing ‘Von Dutch’ since then we’ve had numerous remixes, guest appearances, viral dances, raucous DJ shows, global political influencing and just a general pervasive sense of thrilling, anything could happen chaos that we haven’t seen in pop for a long time. The brat stage show is a representation of that chaos in thrilling effect brought to life through masterful staging, dynamics and a laser focus on Charl in all her magnificent charliness because that’s the one thing that has made brat so resonant. Many things can be brat-coded but absolutely nothing and no one can be Charli xcx.
The set is largely predominantly focused on brat but it’s a set entirely shorn of any special effects or guest features bar her touring partner Shygirl jumping on for the opening ‘365’ remix. What we have instead is maximum Charli as a magnetic focus point as she criss crosses between an understage caged walkway, rising platforms, and a wide open and expansive stage. Multiple costume changes, an attitude that causally goes from aggressive to care free, it’s all here. The impressive camerawork adds to the intensity as she swarms the stage, direct and right in your face. Minimal intensity and intimacy is the vibe. The thing is though Charli might be completely alone on the stage but she’s not alone. Not really. “I never really knew if I would be able to do this on this scale. The reason I can is because of you,” she says to the audience.
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Locked in from the start both Charli and the audience are completely attuned to the brat frequency. Well, maybe there’s a little bit of disruption in there as the stark, baleful beauty of ‘I Did Something Stupid’ is followed with the traditional chant of ‘Here we, here we, here we fucking go’. Tonight in Glasgow everyone is here for those club classics. Hit after hit from brat arrives in a sensory overload. ‘Apple’ is fun and frothy with the now traditional audience participation of someone doing the world famous Apple dance, “Girl, So Confusing’ is powerful and inspiring while ‘Talk Talk’ is a joyous burst which Charli asks to ‘dedicate to someone you love’ before shouting out how she made the song with her numerous friends like A. G. Cook, Hudson Mohawke, The Dare and George Daniel.
There is room for a little tenderness though with a poignant performance of ‘So I’ Charli’s heartbreaking ode to the visionary producer and sonic inspiration to the whole brat universe SOPHIE, given added resonance in a city that played a key part in her story. While brat is a crowing moment for Charli it’s always important to remember that it’s a validation for so many people who have helped define cutting edge and visionary pop music in the last decade.
Perhaps the most encouraging and exciting thing for followers of Charli xcx is that despite the sea of fluorescent green that adorns the crowd you don’t really get the impression this is an arena crowd here just for the Brat party. The sprinkling of older Charli songs provoke just as big a reaction like ‘Unlock It’ which is dedicated to “all the true angels’ while ‘Vroom Vroom’ is met with a feral explosion. Most affecting though is a viscerally powerful and intense ‘Track 10’, Charli starkly illuminated in a rain filled spotlight performing a song that is the peak of her experimental pop, mind-altering era to the biggest audience she’s ever played to. 10 years ago when Icona Pop hit number one with ‘I Love It’ the song that Charli wrote and featured on which provides tonight’s ecstatic closing, maybe a few in the know pop observers might have predicted she would reach this arena-filling status. Five years ago almost everyone would have said it was impossible. Now Charli xcx is truly undeniable. All hail the year of the Brat.
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Words: Martyn Young
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