A ‘Brat’ night to remember: Charli XCX, Troye Sivan kick off Sweat tour

DETROIT — Edgy hooks, unrelenting energy and a sea of neon green made for a potent dose of pop ecstasy as Charli XCX and Troye Sivan kicked off their much-anticipated Sweat tour Saturday night at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena.
For Charli XCX, this was a chance to showcase one of the year’s most acclaimed albums, “Brat,” joined by pop pal and periodic studio collaborator Sivan. The two swapped turns onstage — and occasionally linked up to perform together — during the 110-minute show, played to a packed and very pumped-up sellout crowd downtown.
Charli had played America’s big sports complexes before Saturday — she opened for Halsey at this same arena in 2017, for instance — but never as a touring headliner. For Sivan, this is far and away the Australian native’s biggest stateside tour since he began performing in the U.S. a decade ago.
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The Sweat tour is scheduled to wrap up Oct. 23 at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, and Charli XCX will round out the year with a run of U.K. arena shows.
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Here’s a rundown of opening night:
This may be billed as a co-headlining affair, but make no mistake: This night belonged to the 32-year-old English artist born Charlotte Aitchison, who appeared from behind a giant “Brat” banner in her signature sunglasses, joined by opener Shygirl for a frenetic “365” to launch her first act.
“Brat” courses with an aggressive rawness that distinguishes it from Charli’s previous adventurous pop confections while serving as a personal reckoning with her ever-elevating place in the culture. It’s a smeared-makeup, tousled-hair wallop of a dance-pop album, and fans at LCA were locked in hard as she served up the sonic exhilaration of songs such as “Von Dutch,” the searing edge of “Sympathy is a Knife,” the multitextured “Everything is Romantic” and the four-on-the-floor anthems that line the record.
Performing over instrumental tracks, Charli was an assertive presence — all pumping fists, sultry writhing and rock-star drops to the floor.
“Brat” got an extra viral lift this summer when the album’s distinctive green imagery was embraced by the Kamala Harris presidential campaign and its supporters, but there were no political pronouncements Saturday night: Charli XCX spared little time for chatter as she romped through her set in assorted leotards, furs, high heels and thigh-high boots. This one was all about the party.
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Only the sparsely arranged “Boys” felt vaguely out of place in a hardworking, high-energy show that lived up to the tour’s perspiratory name and had the arena vibrating as the crowd bounced along to songs such as “Speed Drive” and the reliably infectious shout-along of “I Love It.”
The 29-year-old dancer-singer and LGBTQ+ champion delivered a set dominated by music from his latest album, “Something to Give Each Other,” summoning a lush-and-plush soundscape of danceable songs.
“Got Me Started” led a set that found the tank-topped Sivan joined by six dancers for a tautly choreographed affair that veered to the suggestive — including a make-out segment and a lap dance that quickly became a lot more lascivious.
A bounding “Rush” closed his selection of solo songs before he joined up with Charli XCX to close the night with an ebullient “Talk Talk.”
The leap to arenas was a bit of a gamble for an artist who retains outsider status despite her forays of mainstream success. (Charli XCX’s U.S. chart resume includes a lone Top 10 hit, “Boom Clap,” and a long decade ago at that.) But it clearly worked Saturday night for a capacity crowd in Detroit.
The production was fairly simple by modern pop tour standards: a pair of video screens, a three-story scaffold in back and a basic runway out front, under which sat a fenced cage. But as she roamed the stage — with a camera operator often following her from feet away — Charli turned a club vibe into something big enough to fill LCA, with a pulsing light show doing much of the heavy lifting.
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With the night’s two headliners continually switching spots onstage (the longest run of songs by either artist was four from Charli XCX), the format led to a broken, sometimes frustrating flow. Given the commercial and critical success that wound up being generated by “Brat” — released after this tour was plotted out — you can’t help but wonder if Charli XCX regrets not going it alone and devoting full attention to the album that may go down as her masterpiece.
When all was said and done Saturday, she drew on seven of the record’s tracks while leaving aside likely live winners such as “Rewind,” “B2B” and “Spring Breakers.”
Still, the pre-“Brat” stuff that filled out the set held its own, including a “Vroom Vroom” that kicked things into overdrive and a “Track 10” that slow-built into dense, glorious musical transport.