Live Review: Charli XCX extends Brat summer into winter with pop perfection at Birmingham’s bp pulse LIVE arena

2024 has been an incredible year for the 32-year-old Essex-born artist.

While she has had a dedicated fanbase for many years, this year was the one where Charli finally catapulted herself into superstardom and in many ways captured the zeitgeist of the nation.

The simple album cover for ‘Brat’ was echoed by the multitudes in the crowd wearing green and the party girl aesthetic of the album was complimented by the hedonistic feeling of the show.

This year has been marked by a slew of solo female artists breaking through and playing packed out arena shows night after night.

What sets Charli apart from the rest of the pack however is that for this tour at least, she’s doing it on her own.

Last time Charli came to Birmingham in 2022 she played a packed and steamy O2 Academy accompanied by the expected group of backing dancers, set and costume changes.

This time while she was still able to change her stage outfit four times, there was minimal set design and virtually no one else on stage.

Supported only by a dazzling lighting show and some moving platforms, Charli held the crowd in the palm of her hand with sheer force of personality.

The only time there was anyone else on stage with a mic was support act Shygirl to perform the remixed version of ‘365’ as the opening song.

Like the album, the setlist was a mixture of upbeat hedonistic bangers and slower more sensitive songs.

The softer ‘I Might Say Something Stupid’ saw Charli stand stock still in the front left corner of the stage like a girl singing into a mirror evoking the vulnerability explicit in the lyrics of the song.

In comparison, the overtly sexual ‘Guess’ saw her tell the crowd to sing Billie Eilish’s verse as she shook her behind in time.

One of the reasons for Brat’s success has been how it has virally spread on social media.

Charli has embraced the digital world, not only by bringing one fan made dance routine into her own set for the song ‘Apple’ but by using the concept of filming herself singing and dancing to camera as part of the show.

Showing this footage on huge screens flanking either side of the stage ensured that not only did all fans get to see her performing in the more difficult to see places but kept the party going as she moved between different parts of the set.

This was typified by the gritty ‘Spring Breakers’ which she sang from under the stage’s catwalk into camera, surrounded by the bare aesthetic of metalwork supporting it.

The usage of colour in her music has also long been a part of what Charli is about.

Her sound-to-colour synaesthesia ensures that Charli associates colours with music she hears and it should come as no surprise that her set frequently bathes her in reds and blues, colours she associates with music she likes.

Gig purists might balk at the idea of such a stripped back set design or the usage of backing tracks and autotune, but to not do it wouldn’t be true to the aesthetic of the album.

And while Brat is definitely an album where Charli is celebrating continuing a hedonistic lifestyle in her 30s, it’s also an album about her vulnerability of fading youth and associated insecurities.

This was typified by her introduction to ‘Girl, So confusing’, which has been a staple of her shows as she speaks into a heavily autotuned mic.

On Friday she celebrated those who had recovered friendships as she had with Lorde on the remix version of the song, telling people she was happy for those of them who had been able to sort feelings out in therapy.

The encore featured four songs not connected to Brat and were a nod to her “day one” fans who had stuck with her when commercial success had somewhat evaded her.

It also brought the highlight of the show, as she sang ‘Track 10’ under a stream of water in a final statement of her sex appeal.

Charli’s final exit from stage was a statement of simplicity.

No big bows, no solos – just a wave and a statement of “Brat summer forever, b*****s”.

Right now, it’s difficult to argue with that.

Charli XCX played

365 (featuring Shygirl remix)

360

Von dutch

Rewind

I might say something stupid

Club classics

Unlock it

Talk Talk

Apple

So I

So I (featuring a. g. cook remix)

Spring breakers

Girl, so confusing (featuring lorde remix)

Everything is romantic

Speed Drive

Sympathy is a knife

Guess (featuring Billie Eilish)

365

party 4 u

Vroom Vroom

Track 10

I Love it (Icona Pop cover)