Charli XCX at LIDO Festival review: a day-long celebration of ‘Brat’

“Is it still Brat summer?” Charli XCX asks the fervent crowd at London’s LIDO Festival, on a day dubbed PARTYGIRL and dedicated to the popstar of the moment. “Should we drag it out again,” she adds “…or should we put a bullet in it?”

One year and one week after its release, Charli’s personally curated day at LIDO feels like an all-encompassing celebration of the album that became a true phenomenon out of nowhere in 2024. Only at a Taylor Swift gig would you find more homemade merch than is on show here, while ‘brat’ as an adjective – a loose, carefree and uninhibited parroting of Charli’s MO on the chaotic album – is observed by everyone in the jam-packed, frenzied crowd.

This atmosphere helps those in Charli’s orbit, who make up the entire line-up, thrive. In the tent, Kelly Lee Owens gets a raucous reception for her hooky techno-pop, while Charli’s longtime producer A. G. Cook drops snippets of her songs into his early afternoon set as an appetiser for the chaos to follow. Most akin to Brat of all the supporting cast is New York singer and ‘Guess’ producer The Dare, whose sleazy set in the tent is so oversubscribed that the whole surrounding area has to be shut down.

It all leads, with increasing levels of chaos and anticipation, to Charli’s set, which sees the singer run through the majority of Brat with the confidence and swagger of a well-oiled machine. When this show went on sale late last year, it felt like it would be a milestone moment for the singer. By the time it’s arrived, it’s merely par for the course.

Those expecting a particularly special or unique celebration of Brat, then, might feel a little let down. There are none of the somewhat expected special guests – Lorde and Addison Rae, who have both been in London recently – with the only artist joining Charli on stage being Bladee, whose rendition of ‘Rewind’ doesn’t go entirely to plan when the regular album version rather than his remix plays out over the speakers. After ‘Track 10’ and ‘I Love It’ close the set out, it’s all wrapped up within a trim 75 minutes.

It still feels plenty enough though for a baying crowd, and is testament to Charli’s rise to pop’s top table after over a decade of being a critic’s favourite who struggled to break through to the next level. Brat summer pt. 2 will continue to Glastonbury and beyond over the coming weeks and months, and regardless of the longevity of the album itself, today proves that the concept of ‘brat’ is stronger than ever in all its impolite, messy glory. As a message on the screen read at the show’s end, Brat “wasn’t just a summer thing. It’s a forever thing.”