Charli XCX brings a second Brat summer to LIDO festival
Charli XCX took Brat to LIDO festival in London on Saturday (14 June).
Over 365 days after the avant-garde songstress released her highly-acclaimed, culture-shifting, sixth studio album Brat, Charli XCX headlined the freshest festival in North London, reminding everyone why she’s the hottest artistic innovator on the scene at the moment.
Charli XCX has always prided herself upon her strong queer fanbase, whether that be from the iconic video of her shouting “gay rights!” at a record signing, or autographing a fan’s douche, to dedicate many performances of her 2017 hit “Boys” to “all the gay boys in the crowd”.
Walking into Victoria Park, I was flashed in the face with the pure queer joy that the artist has always talked about within her fandom, but on a major scale. Right from the start of the day, LGBTQ+ folk were flooding through the gates of Vicky Park, creating a sea of wraparound sunglasses, strappy tops, and cigarette smoke (keeping to the tropes of how Charli XCX established being “BRAT”). Throughout the day, I wanted to make sure to mingle with the Charli’s ‘Angels’ fanbase and integrate myself into the already-brewing pits and get a taste of the sweat-soaked Brat broth that was bubbling beneath the surface.
As an individual from the Midlands, travelling to London for such a pivotal gig in the queer cultural calendar was a must-do. Charli XCX highlighted that LIDO festival was one she was “excited” for, via X, in her typical collected, chic tone – hinting towards fans that this was to be a stand out showcase.
During such a culture-consuming album cycle, I was prepared for the night of my life. Being at the epicentre of the country, I was expecting the encounters of a multitude of different walks of life, and that’s exactly what was delivered.
This contrasted strongly my experience in the Midlands, with a fraction of the population and smaller proportion of people travelling for similar queer-adjacent events. It was like a tour-de-France to see a tour-de-force, and every second of that journey was worth the eye-widening glamour and electricity of the London LGBTQ+ scene.
Being alone, it was my goal to meet people in every pit that I attended. With the Rose Gray “Club Stage” pit simulating an Ibiza rave, Magdalena Bay fans exchanging the pop-tastic lyrics with each other at the top of their lungs, and Bladee’s drainers falling into each other, exploding with the excitement of Sweden on the second stage.
As the dark crawled in, the tension rose. Standing in a pit with familiar faces like Paul Mescal and trans model of the year Alex Consani, the audience yearned for the second those flashing lights signalled the return of the club queen. Restraining from being a chronically online nihilist, my existence slipped between my fingers the second the seminal Brat curtain fell; an atmosphere of part-rave, part-emotional-exorcism, and part-collective-meltdown.
Throughout the whole of the hour-long electronic showdown, Charli XCX controlled the angels like a hivemind. Following every reverberation of the basslines and chanting along to the incantations that her lyrics make you feel through your bones. I fell in love again and again, with every song that was performed. Maximising the eccentricity of each song, the stage was devoured by her unearthly chemistry with the concert setting.
To put it into her own words, it felt “so Julia” and you could “call her Gabbriette” because we all are “so inspired” by the showcase that we were beholding in front of our eyes. Charli brings together a powerful commentary on what it’s like to be a force-to-be-reckoned-with, a star, a human, a girl in the 21st century zeitgeist, because, once again, as she says, “it’s all so confusing sometimes”.
As a queer individual, it was the community that made the festival extra special. To stand in a circle of strangers belting the high notes of “Track 10” together made the lyrics of the song come to life. “I blame it on your love, every time I f*ck it up”, being a volatile lyric, shared with others, screaming and externalising the emotions we’ve all brought to the table. Joined together by nothing but our queerness, community and love for a new-age pop trailblazer, we found solace in her experimental melodies and lyrics.
Within that moment it struck me, there are such healing powers in newfound platonic love. We bond and form together, relating to our struggles, humour, and interests, and we form such lovely relationships with people to encapsulate the beautiful pockets of light. Our bodies moulded together under the XCX-laced lights and the night of “gender rebels” and “love radicals” expressing the kind of euphoria that only exists within chosen families, soundtracked by the sound of falling apart under lights that’s profound enough to call art.
Brat is very evidently more than a micro-trend. It defies the modern cycle. Charli XCX proves through her live performance how this album is more than just disposable music, but a future queer classic. Holding the essence of community spirit at its core, that is far from rotten.
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