What a distinction a yr makes for Charli XCX.
This time a yr in the past, the Brit “It Girl” was a month shy of releasing her “Brat” album that might result in a “Brat summer” that made her a pop-culture phenomenon.
Twelve years after her debut LP, 2013’s “True Romance,” she was a breakout pop star in her early 30s — center age in pop years — doing collabs with Billie Eilish, showing on “Saturday Night Live” and getting seven Grammy nominations, together with a prestigious Album of the 12 months nod.
Almost three months after profitable three of these Grammys — together with Greatest Dance/Digital Album for “Brat” and Greatest Dance Recording for “Von dutch” — the 32-year-old singer headlined the primary of 4 sold-out exhibits at Brooklyn’s Barclays Middle on Wednesday.
After a co-headlining live performance with Troye Sivan at Madison Sq. Backyard final September, this time it was all her. And he or she was coming in scorching off two Coachella performances that had celebs reminiscent of Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner bopping to her beats.
The thrill was undoubtedly within the air on Wednesday night time for one of many hottest tickets of the yr, with concertgoers sporting their most “Brat” matches, many in “Brat” neon inexperienced.
And it didn’t take lengthy earlier than Charli XCX launched into two of that album’s largest hits in “360” and “Von dutch.” Physique-rocking throughout the darkish, smoky stage in her trademark black shads, she reworked Barclays Middle right into a Brooklyn warehouse.
Certainly, this felt extra like a rave than a live performance, a sweaty membership as an alternative of an enviornment.
“Night one baby! You f—king ready to party with Charli XCX?” she exclaimed.
Little question — there was an infectious social gathering environment that made the present really feel intimate and the singer really feel accessible.
It was simply Charli XCX on the stage for your entire time — discounting the cameraman filming her — and she or he owned it, from the throbbing “Club Classics” to the tender “So I,” her tribute to her late collaborator Sophie.
She might not be the most effective dancer, nor the most effective singer, however she has — as the children say — a vibe.
And there was an unchoreographed really feel to all of it that gave the present a free and full of life really feel, as if Charli XCX was simply dwelling within the second proper alongside together with her 1000’s of followers.
But it surely additionally felt a bit naked onstage with no background dancers and such minimal manufacturing that it appeared slightly, nicely, low-cost.
Plus, with no seen band, it appeared as if Charli XCX was singing to trace more often than not. Which may have been OK for Terminal 5 or Brooklyn Metal, however it felt underwhelming in an enormous enviornment like Barclays Middle (the place she’s going to return Thursday, Saturday and Sunday).
And Charli XCX may’ve used no less than one shock visitor amongst her many collaborators. However there was no Troye Sivan on “Talk Talk,” no Lorde on “Girl, so confusing,” no Billie Eilish on “Guess.”
Nonetheless, that hardly appeared to matter by the point she opened her encore with “party 4 U” — as a result of she had delivered simply that for her followers who got here to social gathering together with her.
Whereas Charli XCX was clearly dwelling on this second with a set leaning closely on “Brat” and its deluxe version — forgoing earlier hits reminiscent of “Boom Clap” and her Iggy Azalea collab “Fancy” —
she closed the night time with “I Love It,” her 2012 hit with Icona Pop.
And adore it, they did.
