Charli XCX

[northernangel]

2 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Flicked her on and lasted about 90 seconds. A binfire of backing tracks and miming. 

Aye. The social media response was massively not impressed. Whichever way its dressed up, she's a mime and autotune artist using visuals rolling around wearing not alot and all the young girls will still lap it up amd copy her. And that sells. 

[K2SO]

12 minutes ago, northernangel said:

Aye. The social media response was massively not impressed. Whichever way its dressed up, she's a mime and autotune artist using visuals rolling around wearing not alot and all the young girls will still lap it up amd copy her. And that sells. 

 

Strangely, Charli had never been one for miming until recently. Seen her around 15 times since 2015, and she'd always been a live performer, up until the last 6 months maybe. It's weird.

I think the auto tune criticism is a bit harsh though, as it is used not to disguise her voice's flaws but instead as a vocal effect (I saw someone before describe it like using a guitar pedal)

[northernangel]

13 minutes ago, K2SO said:

 

Strangely, Charli had never been one for miming until recently. Seen her around 15 times since 2015, and she'd always been a live performer, up until the last 6 months maybe. It's weird.

I think the auto tune criticism is a bit harsh though, as it is used not to disguise her voice's flaws but instead as a vocal effect (I saw someone before describe it like using a guitar pedal)

Everything I've seen from her has hasn't been live, I've not looked majorly far back. Autotune isn't a good thing either way, that doesn't really change if you choose to do visual effects in place of that you aren't a stronger vocalist for your own songs. That's actually pretty poor.

[Alcatraz]

Personally think her music is class and the auto tune slaps

 

Watching back this morning, looks a riot, good stuff

 

It's Charli baby

[Acid_Haze]

This auto-tune argument is so tiring. Charli is a good singer, watch any performances of her pre-2020, or even her performance of Cherry Blossom Girl with Air this year. She uses auto-tune as a stylistic choice, it suits the whole hyperpop style she's been going for over the past 5 or so years. The songs wouldn't have the same futuristic, intense electro energy without it.

[st dan]

There is absolutely no way she could sing live and dance with that energy for an hour plus. Her live shows have now become more of a party, and the performance has now overtaken the live vocals, which many would argue is a fair compromise. 

[northernangel]

Each to their own but the bbc video I've seen it's awful. Her mic is down when the words come out, then there is a strut about and she's clearly barely moving the mouth to the words when she lifts the mic. She's not exactly too old to dance and sing is she, some pop acts much older then her sing flying upside down lol.

[danbailey80]

2 hours ago, The Nal said:

Flicked her on and lasted about 90 seconds. A binfire of backing tracks and miming. 

This. Utter drivel. Miming along to a CD. Pathetic 

[NorthernSoul52]

Much beloved by The Guardian. 

[smogo]

Does anyone know what track was played in the Other field (while Charli's stage was getting set up) immediately before "Doggg" by SebastiAn? It was really bassy and rushy and probably about 6 minutes long.

[NorthernSoul52]

And the Evening Standard.

[NorthernSoul52]

But not by The Telegraph. 

[yosoyyoberdi]

The biggest issue was her just making it another day in the office. 

 

The autotune discussion is so 2010. And as told by some of us months ago, she should have been the headliner.

[Nickyboy]

Thought it was a piss poor spectacle myself. Switched to Caribou who did a stonking set

[ghostdancer1]

I'm sure there in the field it "went off" as they say, but it was pretty dull after 10mins on TV.
Absolutely not a Pyramid headline calibre set IMO.

The reviews of her gig here in Dublin earlier in the week seemed to be of the same view.

 

Quote

The British singer gives a good account of herself at this fun, upbeat gig – but it is no blockbuster

Charli XCX

Malahide Castle, Co Dublin

★★★☆☆

Charli XCX’s breakthrough album, Brat, is a shin-kicking celebration of ambition, self-belief and apocalyptic beats, and her show at Malahide Castle has the same seismic energy.

But it isn’t the victory lap a highly partisan sell-out crowd might have anticipated, never quite achieving lift-off. Charli, at her best, soars like no other pop star. In Dublin she is largely earthbound. Framed by Malahide’s 12th-century pile, she is no queen of the castle.

“It’s so crazy to see all of these faces out here … I was kind of tired tonight, I was feeling a little low,” she says halfway through a trim, festival-length set that could do with an extra 20 minutes. “Then I stepped out and I saw you all and I was, like … damn ... damn. Dublin goes f**king hard for Charli XCX.”

But does the audience really carry her – or is she running to catch up with the most exhausting year of her life?
 

Twelve months ago the artist born Charlotte Aitchison became the sensation of the season with her Brat girl summer trend. Here was a love letter to messy womanhood with a lime-green theme. When she weighed in on behalf of Kamala Harris she even looked poised to influence the outcome of the US presidential election. In the event, Charli’s “kamala IS brat” Instagram post failed to meaningfully move the dial. Instead of bright green in the White House we got toxic orange, while Charli has graduated to being just another pop star in a world teeming with them.

She gives a good account of herself at this fun, upbeat gig, but it is no blockbuster, and while the unfussy stage show – mostly dry ice, green curtains – allows Charli to flex her personality, more presentational oomph might not go astray.

The songs, at least, are fantastic. Charli opens with the pogoing juggernaut 365 and then slips into a shimmery 360, where Auto-Tuned vocals combine with an understated synth line. With a focus on the Brat “era”, there isn’t an awful lot for diehards who have been with her across the past decade, though she does deliver a delightful Unlock It, from her best album, Pop 2, which she released in 2017.

Charli’s recent Coachella headliner featured a cameo by the New Zealand pop star Lorde, who duets with her on the gut-punchingly vulnerable remix of the single Girl, So Confusing. There is no such divine visitation in Malahide. Instead, Charli, moving down the walkway, encourages the fans to fill in on the Lorde bits.

Another treat is the Apple moment when, during the TikTok hit of the same name, she shouts out to a prominent fan. In other countries this segment has featured stars such as Chappell Roan and Jenna Ortega. Here the camera alights on a child up at the front of the crowd and a man dressed as an apple – though Apple Man quickly wins the battle for the attention of the camera, and the little girl is sent packing slightly.

Charli is in fine voice, even if her banter is largely limited to “Come on, Dublin … Where the f*** you at?” That energy is returned by the audience – some of whom presumably took advantage of the “Brat tat” temporary tattoos on offer down the road in Malahide town centre.

But the show catches Charli in the middle of a busy summer-festival tour, and, if the night is special for her fans, for the singer there is a sense that it is another day at the office. There is no faulting her performance, but more spectacular production values and a longer set time would take it to the next level.

 

Edited June 29, 2025 by ghostdancer1

[NorthernSoul52]

Yet to see it, so cannot pass judgement. But it seems to have been almost as divisive as her fella's set this weekend. 

[irnkrtn]

2 hours ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

But not by The Telegraph. 

Who would have thought it 

[NorthernSoul52]

5 minutes ago, irnkrtn said:

Who would have thought it 

Whodathunkit indeed. 

[dotdash79]

I was quite far back in the field but I loved it, and the confidence to be on that stage on her own, and she didn’t stop. Loads of energy. 
 

brat is a brilliant album and the remixes are great. The other stage was the right one for here. 
 

I can imagine watching on tv was quite different, but this was a set for the people there which the last few years of headliners playing to the tv made a nice change. 

[NorthernSoul52]

I am a little surprised there was no Lorde, to be fair. 

[archiegow]

44 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

I am a little surprised there was no Lorde, to be fair. 

Bizarrely, she just posted an Instagram story of her in the crowd during Girl, so confusing. Wonder what happened there.

[NorthernSoul52]

See she's been sounding off on criticism too. 

[danbailey80]

9 hours ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

See she's been sounding off on criticism too. 

Doesn't deny she mimed though.

 

She mentions not having a 'traditional' band. Not sure what is 'traditional' about having musicians. People have sung along to backing tracks forever. It is, and will always will be, just a bit sh*t.

[Suprefan]

15 hours ago, archiegow said:

Bizarrely, she just posted an Instagram story of her in the crowd during Girl, so confusing. Wonder what happened there.

no money for the guest spot. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[NorthernSoul52]

The money's gone!