In 2022, Charli XCX has reached peak stardom. Hailed as somewhat of a goddess among her Angels (fans), her latest release Crash, which sparked a new global tour, shot to the top of the charts. With pints, merch and LGBT coloured paper fans in hand, crowds at Manchester's O2 Victoria Warehouse were geared up for the songstress to deliver a night of utter pop perfection.
Opening the set in what could only be described as a sweatbox, the 3,500 strong audience were undoubtedly "struck like lightening” as strobes flashed and a mammoth screen displayed sharp lightening bolts. It would’ve been no good for someone with epilepsy - but was an invigorating way to kick off the 90-minute show with some umph .
Amid the crowd of shrieking fans - of which, of course, I was one of them - waving their phones around over their heads, the silhouette of a woman appeared centre stage behind a heavy mist, as the electronic songstress began to hum the first notes of Lightening, from her latest album Crash.
It was a punchy way to thrust fans into the set with some gusto, and, despite not being a lead single, was seemingly a favourite. The choreography was equally as enthusiastic, with Charli propped up by two fabulously camp, vogueing backing dancers who remained on stage with her throughout the 90-minute performance.
What followed was Gone, one of her many features with Christine and the Queens. Charli continued to serve up a feast for the eyes, with visuals quickly shifting to a moody red hue, preceded by Move Me, a rare glimpse of vulnerability, paving the way for a short solemn affair that saw XCX grip onto a mic stand and render "there's something about the way you hold my body tight even in my lowest night".
Admittedly this wasn’t my first time seeing Charli XCX live. In fact, it's my fourth time - but there was a sense about the set, much like the new album, that she had reached a milestone here. A sigh of relief almost, as the record and tour mark the end of her five-album deal.
At the same time, the set was smooth and polished from start to finish, with not a note or dance move out of place. Each track sang in their entirety with the exact iconic moves from her latest music videos. This feels like a new image for Charli, much like a ready packaged commercial pop star and a far cry from her all-girlband, electric guitar-strumming self from the 2014 Sucker days.
The set continued with the same uptempo vigour as it had started out, with the likes of 80's-enthused Baby, Every Rule and then Yuck, a track which humorously exposes the cringe-moment of a boy insisting on sending her flowers when she's "just trying to get lucky". The gleaming audience were then treated to the news that this could possibly be her next single, too.
With each new track came varied lighting hues and epic, illusional screen displays, as all the while Charli remained front and centre with her two trusty male back up dancers. It was a welcome distraction from the fact that she was performing without a live band on an otherwise vacant stage - but her punchy, filtered vocals quickly filled that void, and served fans the auto-tuned sound that has become synonymous with her music.
The only nod to her pre-hyper pop days was Boom Clap, probably still one of her most famous and mainstream singles to date, besides Iconapop’s I Love It, which had still been given the new XCX-esc spin with electronic drum utterances and synths. Pop-slammer 1999 went down a treat with the millennials, followed by abrasive, distorted fan favourite Vroom Vroom, from her Vroom Vroom EP produced entirely by the late SOPHIE.
The 29-year-old signed off her encore with synthwave banger Good Ones, the lead single from Crash and a song that has quickly become one of her most popular, receiving critical acclaim and generous radio play across the UK. Charli crooned in falsetto over the bass-heavy track, which she said "signalled a new chapter" for her, in which she "embraced all that the life of a pop figurehead has to offer in todays world".
That maybe so - but one thing the thousands of die hard Angels proved is that they would remain beside her for whatever experimental pop goodness that next chapter has to offer.
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