Take a Guess: Charli XCX Concert or DJ Dance Party?
On Saturday night, Charli XCX sold out the Target Center for a concert that felt more like a club set. Yet despite its deficiencies and imperfections, one that kept the crowd dancing into the night.
After bursting on the stage to “360”, she immediately ramped up the crowd further with “Von Dutch”. And as a curtain dropped to the stage, the lime green scribbled-over “Brat” sent the crowd into a fist-pumping and phone-recording frenzy.
And that is the hold that Charli XCX has on fans. “Brat” captivates, whether one identifies with its surmised definition or plays along with its abstract possibilities. Many fans wore Brat shirts, or others with similar monosyllabic words like “gay”, “party”, and some too spicy to list here. Big props to one fan who made a Brat top out of a fluorescent green construction vest.
As Charli XCX tore down the banner, the stage was dark and sparse with only “GIRL” written across the floor, isolating her even more. No DJ, no band, not even one dancer. She was only joined on stage by a cameraman who she sang to or who followed her beneath the stage, similar to her 2024 Grammy performance.
And like the Brat concept in its minimalist design, Charli XCX projected herself as a singular presence throughout the night. Even for the viral “Apple”, she stood practically motionless on an elevated platform while holding a giant wine glass. Luckily, two screens projected her image to bring her closer to the crowd.
A thrust stage also helped connect to the crowd, including an exciting rendition of “Track 10” as water rained down on her at the stage’s edge. Otherwise, she frequently played to the cameraman more than the crowd. The lights also echoed her singular presence, offering lots of flash yet little color, save for blinding red and blue police lights to the closing song “I Love It”.
Further projecting her singular presence in a somewhat ineffective way, she sang her parts during duets like “Girl, so confusing” and “Guess”. But for Lorde’s or Billie Eillish’s parts, she just talked or danced over them. The screens could have used something, even just clips from the videos, to help fill the void and make it seem more than a partial karaoke venture. But to the crowd, it did not seem to matter.
Other times when Charli XCX sang, a good portion of her voice was heavily aided by autotune and electronic effects.
To her credit, she spoke frequently to the crowd, thanking them and saying they were the “craziest” (it was only the second stop on her North America tour). She also broke the fourth wall, claiming that when she says how “fun” a crowd is that she sometimes lies. But was being sincere, now.
The crowd ate up every gesture, from filling the arena with phone lights during “I might say something stupid” to screaming with delight after multiple outfit changes. And in the most frenetic reaction, during “Guess” when she spat on the stage, kneeled down, and licked it up.
Opening the evening was a DJ set by Finn Keane. In a somewhat similar and singular fashion, he never spoke, neither thanking nor acknowledging the crowd beyond a few waves. The set was a mix of identifiable remixes (i.e. Katy Perry’s “Domino”), instrumental tracks, and even Charli XCX songs. Starting fifteen minutes earlier than posted, the set met a half-filled venue that gradually swelled to near capacity. Throughout the set, the music raced in BPM like an advanced level on Dance Dance Revolution.
Was it fun? Based on the enthusiasm of the crowd, yes. But for a continually ascending pop star that finally has a foothold in America, future tours would benefit from augmented concert elements that raise her shows to her level of sensation.
