On the 16th of October I was Lucky enough to attend Charli xcx’s and Troye Sivan’s THE SWEAT TOUR, and boy the title did NOT LIE. By the end of it my companions and I were drenched in perspiration after absolutely bumpin that for two and a half hours. I had the pleasure of seeing Charli live about a year and a half prior, and describing it as magical would be an understatement. Rewind to the 2010’s when I had listened to her very casually over the years and got a taste of her music when my dad would occasionally put on her album Pop 2 while eating family dinner. So Charli had always been present, but never a prominent musical figure in my life. That all changed when I saw that concert mid 2023. So I have been a full die hard Charli xcx devotee ever since. When her new album BRAT was announced more than 360 days later, I knew I had chosen a good time to hop on the Charli train.
Fast forward to June 7th, when BRAT dropped. Waiting for the album to release felt like Forever, but when it did, the world exploded. EVERYONE was loving the album and Charli alike. It was more than an album, it was a phenomenon. From then on, “brat green” would catch everyone's eye, no matter where they went. “Brat summer” became a colloquialism. The BRAT font (arial narrow) would be seen in places you would never Guess. Charli and her album became the biggest superstars in the world.
Back to the SWEAT. Shygirl, the first act/opener, was unique compared to the two headliners but also had elements borrowed from both of them. She was an incredible appetizer for the feast that was to come. After a few minutes of waiting after Shygirl’s set, everything goes dark. The lights come up and an enormous brat drape drops from the ceiling, covering the center of the stage. A crescendoing beat begins and at the end of it the drape falls revealing CHARLI XCX. She begins singing “365” and the crowd explodes with screams, whoops and hollers. Soon after, Troye Sivan appears, opening with “One of Your Girls”. This was an aspect of the concert that didn’t sit right with me. Absolutely nothing against Mr. Sivan, but every time Charli was performing the vibes were on another level of insane, like you’re driving a car and about to Crash because you’re bumpin’ that so hard (in the best possible way). But every time Charli left and Troye came on, the momentum that Ms. xcx had brought disappeared. There was a tangible shift in the air from BUMPIN to something almost completely opposite. There could be a few reasons I felt this way.
I’m a Sucker for Charli and don’t have as much of a connection to Troye Sivan and his music.
Their styles are just too different. If Troye had a similar aura and style of music to Charli the shift wouldn’t have felt so abrupt. But it’s like going from eating an Apple to eating a banana, sure they’re both fruits, but they have a very different taste and energy than one another. So whichever one you eat first will affect the taste of the one you eat directly after that, as your palette hasn’t had time to adjust.
Overall however, the SWEAT TOUR was an absolute blast. Charli xcx and Troye Sivan seem to be truly good friends which made the show feel incredibly authentic and full of heart, it just left me feeling a tad discombobulated. But in the end, I Love It.
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