Charli XCX Review – Brat pop star creates an electric arena rave

“The first time I played in Manchester I played the Deaf Institute. Ten people were there, it was a huge crowd,” Charli XCX joked to her crowd of 23,000 at Co-op Live in Manchester.

In other words: hers is not an overnight success story. The 32-year-old pop star of the moment from Essex, whose snot-green hedonistic dance-pop album Abrupt influenced Kamala Harris’ campaign and became the word of the year in the Collins Dictionary, has been grinding since she was a teenager to reach this level of recognition. At 15, she convinced her parents to let her perform at raves – now she creates an electric rave atmosphere in her sold-out UK arena tour, mixing the best of her old and new works.

The set design was minimal, but Charli XCX manned the huge space with absolute confidence

HENRY REDCLIFFE

Performs from