“Is it Brat Summer again?” asks Charli xcx with a sigh, standing in front of a giant copy of the album’s artwork, defaced and torn to bits. “Do I drag it out, or shall we put a bullet in it?”
You don’t need us to tell you that when Charli’s sixth album was released last year, it became a global phenomenon. Twelve months on though, there’s still a feverish excitement around her rebellious, straight-talking world. A record about finding joy in partying with your friends and doing things your own way, there’s perhaps no better way to kill it off than a huge blow-out at London’s Victoria Park.
In true Brat fashion, Charli’s brought together all of her favourite acts for the funeral. A.G. Cook delivers a hectic DJ set on the main stage, featuring everything from intense remixes of Charli classics to a searing version of his own ‘Being Harsh’, complete with an aching guitar solo. It’s a lot for 3pm on a Saturday, but the crowd is very much here for over-the-top pop. That ravey energy continues in the cramped The Club, with everyone from FIFI to GAG founders Alex Chapman and Zoe Glitter offering escapism via disco bangers.
Over on the second stage, Magdalena Bay’s tropical pop is boisterous, vibrant and heaps of fun, while on the main stage, 070 Shake wants mosh-pits for her psychedelic rap, and The Japanese House’s blissed-out indie rock sounds absolutely gorgeous in the sunshine. She apologises for the depressing ‘Morning Pages’ but makes up for things with the sparkly ‘:)’. The soaring ‘Boyhood’, a song about coming to terms with gender and sexuality, is dedicated to the trans community. “It’s an important time to speak up,” she adds.
If this is the end of Brat Summer, there are plenty of artists willing to keep the party going. Rose Gray delivers a set of rowdy pop anthems that are far too big for the confines of The Club but it’s The Dare who feels like Brat’s true successor. The area surrounding the second stage reaches capacity long before he takes to the stage, and the snarling electro-punk of ‘Open Up’ causes the packed tent to go feral. That energy continues through the urgent glitch of ‘Good Time’ and the spat euphoria of ‘I Destroyed Disco’. ‘You Can Never Go Home’ offers a glimpse into The Dare’s take on arena rock before PinkPantheress joins him for the polished swagger of ‘Stateside’. Somehow, the whole place finds a new level of chaos for the closing stomp of ‘Girls’. “This shit is meant for 2am, so this is a little out of pocket,” Harrison Patrick Smith explains, a little after 6pm. “It’s still quite fun, though,” he adds with a smirk.
The whole of Charli xcx’s Partygirl takeover at Lido Festival is about inspiring fearless, unapologetic joy and her slick, 75-minute set absolutely nails that energy. From the hectic open of ‘360’ through the glitching bounce of ‘Unlock It’, the 19-track set is crammed full of frenzied bursts of club exhilaration. Tonight is less about the viral moments that spread the wildfire of ‘Brat’ and is more about living in the moment, with the crowd encouraged to “fuck it up” throughout the night. ‘I Might Say Something Stupid’ and ‘Sympathy Is A Knife’ offer biting catharsis and take on new meaning with plenty of ‘what next’ questions directed at Charli, while ‘Speed Drive’, ‘Vroom Vroom’ and ‘365’ are determinedly ecstatic. Who cares about what comes next when the present is so much fun?
Charli closes things out with the hammering industrial dance of ‘Track 10’ and timeless festival banger ‘I Love It’, as water pours down from the stage above her. A final flourish of fireworks draws a line under her biggest-ever London headline gig while an onscreen message explains that while Charli thought Brat Summer was finally over, she’s realised it’s “a forever thing”. Looking out at thousands of people having the absolute time of their lives to her music, who can blame her. Same again next year?
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