Brat was the word burning on everyone who was anyone’s tongues this summer: the sweaty club-rat in wraparound sunnies and disco shorts, the volatile yet self-assured mean girl influencer with a tooth gem, and even Kamala Harris. This spirit undoubtedly hung heavy in the air at the OVO Hydro; stepping in from the bitter December outside was on par with entering the emerald city (if it was considerably sweatier and had less asbestos on set).
SHYGIRL opened the show with a punchy set, her image on screen overlaid with animations reminiscent of those that would swirl about when you listened to music on a PC in the 2000s. Her edgy, trancelike beats left the black and green sea of an audience with appetites appropriately whet for the arrival of Charli herself.
Unlike some of the other limited dates on the brat tour, Charli did not bring out a surprise act. However, when the lights dimmed and SOPHIE’s ‘Immaterial’ played in its entirety, I couldn’t help but consider her to be Glasgow’s true guest of honour. Following this reflective moment of tribute, it was straight into brat-mania: there are few things more thrilling than dancing live to the songs you’ve been bumping to in the dim coloured lights of the Polo Lounge all summer long, and the high energy light design emulated this vibe flawlessly. Charli delivered on all fronts; she balanced artistic use of effects with strong vocal performance, and her show(wo)manship kept everyone bouncing for the whole hour and a half runtime. Though brat was the bulk of the setlist, she also brought back iconic hits such as ‘I Love It’ and ‘Vroom Vroom’ (aka The Beatles’ ‘Drive my Car’ if it served cunt), and last summer’s Barbie phenomenon ‘Speed Drive’; with a catalog so tied up in cultural sensations, it was easy to get swept away in feeling that you were already watching a longtime legendary act. Songs like ‘Apple’, with crunchy synth interjections and layers of high production countermelodies, and a dance that everyone knows to boot, played out as a perfect microcosm of pop superstardom.
In line with the aesthetics of the album, Charli’s stage setup was fairly minimalistic, with little other than some enormous sheets with typography reading ‘PARTY’, ‘GIRL’ and ‘brat’ for props, and no backup dancers. In such a big venue with the infrastructure for all sorts of wild theatrics, this could easily have made the performance fall semi-flat. However, Charli’s stage presence was so compelling and full of attitude that she commanded the space in a way that 20 dancers combined would struggle to match. Saying this, she definitely does not lack versatility: when ‘Track 10’, a deeper cut from Pop 2, came on, it was a raw emotional spectacle as Charli writhed under a shower of rain.
Moments like this and her performance of ‘girl, so confusing’, where she gave a candid preamble about navigating difficult friendships and seeking therapy, served as reminders of what ‘brat’ has really come to represent. It is not just about sharp sardonic wit, but about being messy and challenging the need to shame yourself for being alive for the first time and making mistakes. I left the arena feeling like that little bit of brat inside me, the little bit that’s in us all, had grown a size; and I feel no remorse about that!
Author: Emily Davidson [she/her] @emziedx
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