Charli xcx affirms Brat Winter is in full force.

The rise of Brat, a pop culture movement embracing an individual’s confident, messy unapologetic self, not only left a permanent mark amongst Gen Z and the Collins Dictionary but also UK arenas filled with fans adorned head to toe in the album’s iconic shade of green. Having dominated this year, Charli xcx’s sixth album embodies pop at its very best. Filled with an intoxicating energy, this is an album full of songs that are both lyrically confrontational, vibrant, emotive, and visceral when tackling deep-rooted insecurities. 

This cultural dominance paved the way for an unforgettable night where the vibes were immaculate from the very start with support from Shygirl – re-emerging for the first song 365 remix ft. Shygirl – setting up the messy party girl aesthetic. Although Charli xcx has been known for her rebellious antics on this tour – the provocative rain dance on stage B and Charli’s renowned routine of spitting and licking it off the stage’s catwalk during the playful remix of Guess ft. Billie Eilish – alongside the creation of a space where it transports you out of an arena to an electric rave, she opened up to reveal her emotional struggles and story behind this tour and album.

In the setlist, songs like Girl, So Confusing started with an autotune monologue of Charli reassuring us that honest and cool people do therapy, Sympathy is a knife exploring themes of self-doubt and crippling moments of anxiety, as well as Rewind which emphasises the struggles of imposter syndrome. Each track in the setlist —performed for over 15,000 people — naturally led to moments where you found yourself either crying or embracing your friend, before putting back on your sunglasses and dancing hard to the next beat drop and laser light display.

Despite the upbeat dance-pop hyping the crowd, the last song moments before Charli graced the stage was SOPHIE’s Immaterial, indicating a touching tribute to her late friend. Charli dedicating this tour to SOPHIE, an acclaimed Avant-pop producer and songwriter, her close collaborator and friend, added a further layer into the importance of this tour and its themes of girlhood and friendship – confirmed before singing So I followed by its remix ft A. G. Cook. This wasn’t just a ‘party’ but a celebration and remembrance of the development and future of pop music as a genre.

A night that cemented the sheer presence and power of Charli xcx, one with fabulous outfit changes – a favourite being her embellished mesh heart cut out black top, mini leather hot pants, black slouch boots, and black sunglasses — and various interludes to accompany, yet not once did the heady energy wane. Watching her perform, it is clear Charli is the main character. Despite warning the crowd of her hungover state from the night before at the O2 Arena, she offers a lesson in stage presence through the minimal staging, lack of backing dancers, and her one cameraman, Nick, providing live footage to the venue’s side screens. From her stage cage underneath the catwalk, similar to her previous co-headlining concert The Sweat Tour with Troye Sivan, the rhythmic strobe lights, smoke machine, floating platform on the main stage, and the simple but effective green Brat fabric screen at the start was the perfect set up for Charli’s confident prowess. 

An hour and a half of pure feral energy, exploding with endless bass and hard-hitting synth, each song was an adrenaline rush. Far from leaving the audience hanging, Charli was quick to treat her angels to yet another costume change and encore of songs from past albums, including Track 10 from her 2017 album Pop 2 and ending with nostalgic 2013 club classic I Love it by Icona Pop. As someone who has adored Charli since the very beginning of her career, this skyrocketing success since the release of Brat has been long overdue. She is the moment, a hype woman, and an eclectic empress of pop music putting on one of the best shows of the year, definitely ending the year with a crash.

See Charli xcx live: