Current:Home > StocksCharli XCX makes it a 'Brat' night during Sweat tour kickoff with Troye Sivan: Review-InfoLens
Charli XCX makes it a 'Brat' night during Sweat tour kickoff with Troye Sivan: Review
View Date:2024-12-23 19:26:02
DETROIT, Michigan — Edgy hooks, unrelenting energy and a sea of neon green made for a potent dose of pop ecstasy as Charli XCX and Troye Sivan kicked off their much-anticipated Sweat tour Saturday night at Detroit's Little Caesars Arena.
For Charli XCX, this was a chance to showcase one of the year's most acclaimed albums, "Brat," joined by pop pal and periodic studio collaborator Sivan. The two swapped turns onstage — and occasionally linked up to perform together — during the 110-minute show, played to a packed and very pumped-up sellout crowd downtown.
Charli had played America's big sports complexes before Saturday — she opened for Halsey at this same arena in 2017, for instance — but never as a touring headliner. For Sivan, this is far and away the Australian native’s biggest stateside tour since he began performing in the U.S. a decade ago.
More:Lorde, Charli XCX’s viral moment and the truth about friendship breakups
The Sweat tour is scheduled to wrap up Oct. 23 at Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena, and Charli XCX will round out the year with a run of U.K. arena shows.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Here's a rundown of opening night:
Charli XCX brought the 'Brat'
This may be billed as a co-headlining affair, but make no mistake: This night belonged to the 32-year-old English artist born Charlotte Aitchison, who appeared from behind a giant "Brat" banner in her signature sunglasses, joined by opener Shygirl for a frenetic "365" to launch her first act.
"Brat" courses with an aggressive rawness that distinguishes it from Charli's previous adventurous pop confections while serving as a personal reckoning with her ever-elevating place in the culture. It's a smeared-makeup, tousled-hair wallop of a dance-pop album, and fans at LCA were locked in hard as she served up the sonic exhilaration of songs such as “Von Dutch,” the searing edge of “Sympathy is a Knife,” the multitextured “Everything is Romantic” and the four-on-the-floor anthems that line the record.
Performing over instrumental tracks, Charli was an assertive presence — all pumping fists, sultry writhing and rock-star drops to the floor.
“Brat” got an extra viral lift this summer when the album’s distinctive green imagery was embraced by the Kamala Harris presidential campaign and its supporters, but there were no political pronouncements Saturday night: Charli XCX spared little time for chatter as she romped through her set in assorted leotards, furs, high heels and thigh-high boots. This one was all about the party.
'Brat summer' is upon us.What does that mean? Kamala Harris is game for it.
Only the sparsely arranged “Boys” felt vaguely out of place in a hardworking, high-energy show that lived up to the tour's perspiratory name and had the arena vibrating as the crowd bounced along to songs such as “Speed Drive” and the reliably infectious shout-along of “I Love It.”
A racy Troye Sivan dominated the stage
The 29-year-old dancer-singer and LGBTQ+ champion delivered a set dominated by music from his latest album, “Something to Give Each Other,” summoning a lush-and-plush soundscape of danceable songs.
"Got Me Started" led a set that found the tank-topped Sivan joined by six dancers for a tautly choreographed affair that veered to the suggestive — including a make-out segment and a lap dance that quickly became a lot more lascivious.
A bounding “Rush” closed his selection of solo songs before he joined up with Charli XCX to close the night with an ebullient “Talk Talk.”
For Charli XCX, a club show in an arena setting
The leap to arenas was a bit of a gamble for an artist who retains outsider status despite her forays of mainstream success. (Charli XCX’s U.S. chart resume includes a lone Top 10 hit, “Boom Clap,” and a long decade ago at that.) But it clearly worked Saturday night for a capacity crowd in Detroit.
The production was fairly simple by modern pop tour standards: a pair of video screens, a three-story scaffold in back and a basic runway out front, under which sat a fenced cage. But as she roamed the stage — with a camera operator often following her from feet away — Charli turned a club vibe into something big enough to fill LCA, with a pulsing light show doing much of the heavy lifting.
Brat summer is almost over.Get ready for 'demure' fall, a new viral TikTok trend.
A little more 'Brat,' please
With the night’s two headliners continually switching spots onstage (the longest run of songs by either artist was four from Charli XCX), the format led to a broken, sometimes frustrating flow. Given the commercial and critical success that wound up being generated by “Brat” — released after this tour was plotted out — you can’t help but wonder if Charli XCX regrets not going it alone and devoting full attention to the album that may go down as her masterpiece.
When all was said and done Saturday, she drew on seven of the record’s tracks while leaving aside likely live winners such as “Rewind,” “B2B” and “Spring Breakers.”
Still, the pre-“Brat” stuff that filled out the set held its own, including a “Vroom Vroom” that kicked things into overdrive and a “Track 10” that slow-built into dense, glorious musical transport.
veryGood! (31)
Related
- California farmers enjoy pistachio boom, with much of it headed to China
- Marc Anthony and Wife Nadia Ferreira Heat Up the Red Carpet at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2023
- These associate degree majors lead to higher incomes than a 4-year bachelor's. Here are the top programs.
- Kim Zolciak Calls 911 on Kroy Biermann Over Safety Fears Amid Divorce
- Man Found Dead in Tanning Bed at Planet Fitness Gym After 3 Days
- Federal judges select new congressional districts in Alabama to boost Black voting power
- Russian journalist who staged on-air protest against Ukraine war handed prison sentence in absentia
- Cartels use social media to recruit American teens for drug, human smuggling in Arizona: Uber for the cartels
- Jax Taylor Breaks Silence on Brittany Cartwright Dating His Friend Amid Their Divorce
- South African flag may be taken down at rugby & cricket World Cups for doping body’s non-compliance
Ranking
- New Pentagon report on UFOs includes hundreds of new incidents but no evidence of aliens
- Railroad unions want scrutiny of remote control trains after death of worker in Ohio railyard
- Reprieve for New Orleans as salt water creeping up the Mississippi River slows its march inland
- Ex-USC gynecologist charged with sexually assaulting students dies before going to trial
- Mariah Carey's Amazon Holiday Merch Is All I Want for Christmas—and It's Selling Out Fast!
- Pakistan gives thousands of Afghans just days to leave — or face deportation back to the Taliban's Afghanistan
- A deputy killed a man who fired a gun as officers served a warrant, Yellowstone County sheriff says
- Jury hears testimony in trial of officers charged in Manuel Ellis' death
Recommendation
-
Can't afford a home? Why becoming a landlord might be the best way to 'house hack.'
-
$228M awarded to some plaintiffs who sued Nevada-based bottled water company after liver illnesses
-
4 doctors were gunned down on a Rio beach and there are suspicions of a political motive
-
Slovakia halts military aid for Ukraine as parties that oppose it negotiate to form a new government
-
Early Week 11 fantasy football rankings: 30 risers and fallers
-
George Tyndall, former USC gynecologist facing sex crime charges, was found dead in his home at 76
-
Grandmother recounts close encounter with child kidnapping suspect
-
The average long-term US mortgage rate surges to 7.49%, its highest level since December 2000