“High art, bitch.” – Charli XCX describing her newest album “BRAT.”
Brat summer might be over, but to Charli XCX and Troye Sivan, it’s only the start of the Sweat Tour; the most unapologetic and in-your-face concert I’ve ever seen. Following the release of Charli’s most recent album, BRAT, which was received amazingly well among critics and fans worldwide, the duo took on a 21-show concert run around the US. After sweating my way through 3 hours of the contemporary art piece that was the Sweat Tour, I can say with confidence that the duo did indeed live up to the hype.
The concert opened with Charli concealed behind a square of neon green brat curtains hanging from the stadium ceiling. When the curtains dropped, the performance began. Not only the musical performance, but also the theatrical one. From here on out, Charli was a full-on popstar brat. As the concert opened, she stood completely still in the middle of the pit. Her Essex poise gave her the image of a 21st-century statue of Aphrodite. She wore a ‘We Love You Kate’ shirt, a characteristic nod to “Cocaine Kate” Moss, and the crowd was so ready. On par with her shirt, Charli opened with a ravey remix of 365, and the strobe lights never stopped…
At Nationwide, Charli was a Queen, a High Priestess, a Prima Donna, and a BRAT. She enjoyed the height of her career in the most extravagant ways possible. She spat on the stage and didn’t sing the lyrics. She leered at herself in the stadium screens. She flaunted her body with exuberant outfits. She didn’t sing the lyrics. She was an unapologetic, bratty, partygirl. With a drink drooping in her right hand, she joked with the audience about “brat autumn” and said “hands up” approximately 200 times. It truly did look like she was having so much fun on stage.
Charli has clearly perfected her ‘brat’ image. Throughout the concert she proved herself as a master performer; she devoted herself to her act in order to grant the audience the most enjoyable experience possible. She walked down the stage like it was a runway; confident, bitchy, focused, feminine, and powerful. This on-stage confidence made for a crowd that felt comfortable being outward, and expressed this in constant, rave-esque, dancing. After being underrated for so long it was a joy to see Charli revel in her glory as pompously as she wanted. It’s about time for her to be recognized for her incredible talent.
The lights and the music never stopped. Charli and Troye structured the concert like a DJ set; some type of beat almost constantly playing with few moments of silence. This gave the audience something to dance to at all times and gave the concert a sonic fluidity that immersed the stadium in music. Sunglasses on, dripping with sweat, always on our feet, non-stop dancing, jersey club beats, people trying to get through, songs mixing into each other, minimal audience recording – is this the club?
Whether it was the Speed Drive club remix, Rush, I Love It, or a BRAT anthem, the audience was always enjoying what was going on and looking forward to what was coming. Charli displayed a contagious level of confidence, using the brat persona to be lauded for absurd outwardness, rather than maturity. This encouraged the audience to be confident as well, and it showed anytime I looked around and saw torsos of neon green crop tops waving around to collide with customized wife beaters and oversized y2k-inspired jorts.
Although Troye was the less topical act of the night, his performances were just as memorable. You could feel the vulnerability in his stage presence as he showed the most profound depths of his identity. The singing and dancing was over the top, gay, exciting, emotional, passionate, and everything else that you find in listening to his music. The homoerotic choreography was exaggerated to satirical levels, so as to play off the confidence of being a ‘brat’, and was one of the most entertaining aspects of the whole concert. Those boys could dance!
When Charli and Troye closed the show with their remix of Talk talk (my favorite song off of BRAT) it felt like the start of a rave that could have gone on all night long. The fact that I saw very few people recording throughout the entire concert is a testament to the addictive and captivating atmosphere the Sweat crew was able to create. I left feeling like I saw a cultural phenomenon and an important musical moment of my era. BRAT is undeniably a modern masterpiece and seeing the concert accompaniment was truly something special. It made me forget about all my longings to see the music of the past and fall in love with the possibilities of the music of the present. It excited me for the future of music, and it should excite you too. High art lives.
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