Review of Charli XCX’s Brat Tour at the Hydro
The scent of booze, leather, and poppers permeated the air of Glasgow’s beloved Hydro as Charli XCX’s highly anticipated BRAT Tour reached its conclusion in Scotland on Monday, 2 December. A short-lived United Kingdom stint with only four stops in London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Glasgow, it seemed as though fans were eager to experience the revolutionary club sets on a massive scale.
The internet for the past year has been heavily saturated with media surrounding the singer/DJ’s sixth studio album, which generated an aesthetic and self referential mass cultural movement. To be or not to be BRAT, put into effect the death of the ‘clean girl aesthetic’ for a more raunchy and club oriented set of ideals. When 80% of students are less likely to go to a club than a pub or bar, it seemed that Charli was able to revive the twenty something’s desire to party while they are still young and hot.
As the lights dimmed and Shygirl came out to perform her opening set, it became clear that while everyone was ready to sweat, there was an unspoken air of energy conservation until the main event. People came and went out from the general admission floor as they pleased, giving way to those who needed to get a drink or go to the toilet as the night progressed; a level of concert etiquette that is surprising and uncommon for gigs in recent years.
Just days before, at the final night of her London show, Charli brought out surprise guests Caroline Polachek, Robyn and Yung Lean, to play their respective collaborations from her remix album, Brat But it’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat. Meanwhile, her fiance, George Daniel, drummer of the 1975, engaged with the audience in performing the apple dance immersed in the swarm of sweat and extravagant fashion. The question persistently hanging in the air among the Glasgow crowd seemed to be whether or not the last night of the tour would be so lucky to be graced with the presence of one of these icons.
The strobe lights flashed promptly at 9pm, creating a mass hysteria as the brat curtain, in its splendor of offensive bright green, reached the floor of the stage. As Charli emerged, opening the show with the Shygirl collaboration of 365, the audience may as well have been at a rave at three in the morning on heavy doses of class A drugs. The energy, charisma, and nerve could be felt in every pore of the skin, as the mass of bodies collectively jumped to every track.
The camera crew were working overtime, following the adrenaline driven pop star as she ran across the stage, licked it, climbed underneath it, and even rose to the top of the arena on a large catwalk. A much needed break was given during the heartful renditions of So I, in its original form, as well as the remixed version with A.G Cook, to provide a degree of the party girl mentality to the most melancholy moment of the show.
The most notable were the performances of Vroom Vroom, and Speed Drive, which were modified to include mixed instrumental portions solely for the purpose of dancing. It was highly evident that Charli was having just as much fun getting crazy on a Monday night in December as everyone in the audience. Though it is unimaginable to be seated for a show such as this, the aura was so consuming it was undoubtedly felt all the way up to the nosebleed sections.
Then came the most ethereal rendition of Track 10, which Charli has often stated is her favourite song to ever come to fruition. As she stood in the makeshift rain at the end of the stage, and danced until she was soaking wet, everyone was completely mesmerized at what they were bearing witness to. Not a peep could be heard from the large crowd as they attempted to capture the moment on as many electronic devices as possible.
The ending performance of I Love It, fit the general aesthetic of the entire show perfectly. Charli removed her skirt completely after a minor wardrobe malfunction from the rain, and performed rain soaked, in her pants, as everyone jumped to the song that dominated the radio in 2012. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting setting for this kind of media than the seedy underbellies of big city club scenes, but somehow it just works. With the cult following, consistently high energy levels, and the overwhelming sense of fun provided by Charli’s shows, she has solidified herself in the cultural sphere for a long time.