Charli xcx is smoking a cigarette and surveying her disciples from an elevated platform. Most are clad in the ubiquitous slime green that adorned the cover of June’s culture-swallowing Brat album, while some sport the same wraparound glasses as their unapologetic idol. Everyone is dancing in unison to Apple, a curious bop about nature v nurture, fruit and airports, that went viral thanks to a TikTok dance. The Essex 32-year-old nonchalantly waves her cigarette like a baton, controlling an orchestra of mainly gay men and young women, before unleashing a familiar trigger warning for an oncoming crowd meltdown: “Manchester, where the fuck you at?” she roars as delirium ensues.
It’s an unexpected spectacle. When this short UK arena tour was first announced in April, it felt slightly overambitious for a peripheral but hugely influential pop star. Charli’s flirtations with mainstream success – Boom Clap, Fancy, 1999 – were often sandwiched between more outre experimentations with various affiliates of gonzo UK electronic label PC Music, moving her into “if you know, you know” territory. Even 2022’s Crash, her knowing attempt at being a pop sellout, only spent two weeks in the UK Top 40.
