Charli xcx's Music, Fashion, Film tour

Charli xcx proved the live potency of her new album 'Music, Fashion, Film' during the third night of its tour at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on Tuesday. The show presented a full-volume, pyrotechnic-heavy spectacle that substantiated the album's themes of fragility and egoism, according to a review in The Guardian.

A maximalist pivot from 'Brat'

After conquering abrasive minimalism with her 2024 album 'Brat', Charli xcx has embraced a more maximalist production for the arena tour. The stage featured a pyramid set constructed almost entirely from layered speakers, backup dancers, and pyrotechnics. This shift reflects a pop artist the review describes as being refreshingly in touch with her 'death drive', a concept showed by a spoken-word outro from filmmaker David Cronenberg about oblivion being freedom.

The new rock-influenced songs from 'Music, Fashion, Film', which had faced scrutiny upon release, were reported to make sudden sense in the live context. They were delivered at maximum volume by Charli and her band, described as 'underfed musicians that would be seen on stages in 2007', and crackled with live guitars. The crowd's head-banging response to the opening salvo 'Rock Music' was noted as polite.

Seamless integration of eras

The show's setlist created a grayscale bridge between Charli xcx's past and present. Transitions from the 'Wuthering Heights' soundtrack song 'House' to the fan-favorite throwback 'Next Level Charli' and into new track 'Dying for You' were described as near seamless. This was followed by a relentless five-song mini-show of 'Brat' hits including 'Von Dutch' and 'Sympathy is a Knife', which the review said still possessed the 'propulsion of a jet engine'.

Despite the high-energy production, the performance retained elements of Charli's minimalist bent. The review noted there were no CGI visuals, special guests, or stage banter, focusing instead on a singular vision of persona. One moment featured her strutting with an army of imitators to 'Card Declined'; the next, she was alone on the floor or a silhouette disappearing into fog.

A finale of impermanence

The show concluded with 'No One Lasts Forever', a track from 'Music, Fashion, Film' that samples David Cronenberg. Flanked by dancers, Charli xcx struck and held a final pose designed for posterity against a looped vocal declaring 'they are dead, they are gone, nothing lasts forever'. The review estimated that at least 10,000 photos of that final tableau were taken, destined for the iCloud accounts of fans. The moment itself, however, was described as inevitably, sadly, and thrillingly gone.