Charli XCX commanded the attention of Boston’s House of Blues Oct. 17 with a performance combining the whimsical joy of an ‘80s pop star juxtaposed with the bold and brash nature of a standard 2010s pop star.
With two large tilted cubes adorning the middle-ground of the stage and a background displaying her own name in unique, bold lettering, Charli wasted no time hyping up the audience, starting with her kinetic performance of “Next Level Charli.”
Throughout the song, and the entire concert, there was a hectic energy shared between the performer and the audience. Aligned with the singer’s light show, these elements resulted in a night of bombastic enjoyment for all parties involved.
This intense synergy was evident during Charli’s performance of “Click,” where the artist and the crowd joined as one while harmonizing for the song’s chorus: “You can’t f— with my clique,” showcasing a united front of simultaneous bliss and aggression.
While many of Charli’s songs feature other artists — “Gone” featuring Christine & the Queens, “Warm” featuring HAIM, etc. — the singer performed most of these verses herself, maintaining the same emotional intensity and buoyant presence as the featured artists.
As for the few guest verses she didn’t perform, Charli simply pointed the microphone at the crowd — showing off her dominance and stage presence.
While calling Charli’s music “artificially sweet” may sound like her music is insincere, the exact opposite is true.
While Charli’s music may coat itself in a layer of synthesized pop, the emotion in both her songwriting, and her vocals as she performs, is as genuine as any artist’s can be. This is particularly evident in her live performance of “Cross You Out,” where one could feel the heartbreak stemming from Charli’s emotionally fragile delivery of “when you’re not around / I’ll finally cross you out.”
A large portion of Charli’s fanbase are members of the LGBTQ+ community and it was evident last Thursday night that the singer is grateful for that community’s support. She brought out several drag queens during her performance of “Shake It” and ended the show’s encore with the venue’s lights forming a rainbow.
Charli ended her set with a five-song encore, starting with a stage dive through her performance of “Unlock It” and ending it with a one-two punch of “1999” and “1999 (Easyfun Remix),” satisfying the part of her fandom that enjoys her poppier craft as well as the side of her fanbase that craves her more experimental work.
As she graced the audience with her final ‘thank you’s,’ she most notably thanked herself, “for being such a badass performer,” emphasizing to the audience that the show is not only about loving others as you would yourself, but also that self-love is essential. And that is a true reflection of the care that Charli puts into her craft — a care that is rare in an industry that prioritizes commercial success over self-actualization.
