Throughout the United States, Teenagers are gearing up for football games and high school homecoming dances. Last night, Madison Square Garden witnessed a different kind of homecoming: New York teens (ages 27 to 31) donned wraparound sunglasses and baby T-shirts to dance their last gasps of Brat Summer — Brautumn, if you will — on Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s Sweat Tour.
Brat Summer has its roots here in New York. The months-long phenomenon was foreshadowed in February with Charli’s Boiler Room show in a Bushwick warehouse, where the singer performed the album’s first single, “Von Dutch.” In May, the infamous BRAT wall went green in Greenpoint, followed by Charli’s surprise appearance at Dare’s Le Bain DJ set. Once the album was released in June, a horde of fans dressed in Brat gear descended on Brooklyn’s Paramount for her first full live show in support of the release.
From that point on, you’d be hard-pressed to enter any dingy room or club in the city without hearing the staccato, escalating “360” sounds like an emergency alert system on the dance floor. The album’s lyrics quickly crept into the language of young adults using the internet: “I’m so Julia” = “perfect girl.” “Girl, you walk like a dog” = a huge compliment now, somehow. “Brat” evolved from a noun to an adjective, appearing in your average friends’ “summer dump” comments on Instagram, used to describe the most mundane of activities. (No, Susan, drinking coffee after 4 p.m. is no (A little boy. Or maybe he is. Who can say more?)
Still, is watching the Sweat Tour on a Monday night, the second day of fall, a bit like being the last person at the party? It might be natural to hesitate. But on last night’s show, Charlie and Troy pulled out all the stops to produce a show that even the most jaded Brat fans could enjoy.
Troy opened the show with “Got Me Started,” surrounded by synchronized dancers and sensual, body-spinning choreography. The lead duo kept the stage on the edge of their padded toes all night, intertwining their sets and pausing every three songs or so. Whispers of potential surprise guests began to trickle out before the show, and to the delight of the crowd, the Sweet New York stop delivered. MSG screams filled the air as the silhouette of girl-turned-pop sensation Addison Rae appeared like a ghost while the wobbly synths of her latest hit, “Diet Pepsi,” began to play. Charlie and Troy joined in to contribute background vocals (“Diet Pepsi” ft. Troye Sivan when?), and Addison stayed long enough to kick up her heels, twirl barefoot, and scream into the microphone to the AG Cook remix of “Von Dutch.” Some might say she’s just living that life.
The sound barrier at Madison Square Garden nearly broke midway through the show, when Lorde emerged from under the stage to work on remixing the song with the real-life Charli. The two co-stars, who both have the same hair, delivered a fiery duet of the oft-quoted and much-discussed “Very Confusing Girl” — and while the original recording had a tone of mutual respect, the live performance was a full-on celebration, bold and unabashed, as the duo strutted down the runway in perfect harmony.
Every night of the Sweat Tour, a new Apple Girl appears on the big screen to perform the TikTok-worthy Apple Dance. Last night’s guest was Kelly Hair, the dance’s creator herself, who led the crowd through her dance while wearing a stunning Brat miniskirt. “I made the damn dance, bitch,” Charli shouted into the microphone, and the party went on.
Troy's sweet sense of dance-pop and Charlie's adrenaline kept the vibes and energy high throughout the two-hour show. The lead duo sang their beloved song “1999” as the final song before each of their two additional songs, with Charlie playing Bob 2 “Track 10” and early 2000s classic “I Love It” were the highlights, while Troye sang “Honey” and “Rush” (as a member of the audience waved a cardboard cutout of a pop bottle from across the arena). The duo closed out the night with their final medley, “Talk Talk.” “Fucking icon, Charli XCX,” Troye said before the lights went up. “Fucking legend, Troye Sivan,” Charlie responded—two pop icons exchanging flowers, sweating and grinning.
Charli XCX and Troye Sivan Tour Setlist
“I have started”
“What time is it where you are?”
“Mee mee mee!”
“Remix 365 with easyfun and shygirl”
“360”
“From Dutch”
“in my room”
“dance to this”
“Angry Teenager!”
“Classics Club”
“Open it”
“Empathy is a knife”
“I think Billie Eilish is in the mix.”
“flourishes”
“spring break”
Diet Pepsi
“A Very Confusing Girl” with Lorde
“one of your girls”
“Everything is romantic”
“fast driving”
“apple”
“silly”
“You”
“stud”
“365”
“From From”
“1999”
once again:
“Track No. 10”
“I love him”
“honey”
“hurry up”
“Talk Talk” starring Troye Sivan
