LIVE REVIEWS
Not a single seat is vacant in New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden. ‘Brat’ summer might be over, but the sardine-packed arena is still speckled with hints of its representative colour, lime green. Tonight, Miss 365 party girl herself Charli XCX and Troye Sivan are taking over the city that never sleeps with their back-to-back joint headlining show as part of their US-only ‘Sweat’ tour, and NYC is showing up accordingly.
As the lights dim to signal the start of this cultural moment, a montage of XCX and Sivan plays on the two big screens, and a slow, robotic voice says: “When I go to the club, I want to hear those club classics.” Moments later, as Sivan’s backup dancers emerge on stage, the pop boy of the hour has one question he needs answering. “New York City, oh my god, are you ready to fucking sweat?” he asks before kicking the night off with a vivacious performance of ‘Got Me Started’ featuring his viral dance moves and sensual mic positioning, driving the whole arena crazy.
After Sivan runs through the pulsing ‘What’s The Time Where You Are?’ and ‘My My My’, providing a masterclass in electrifying stage presence, a plethora of strobes begin flickering across the venue. A green curtain falls from MSG’s ceiling, forming a box around the end of the stage, ‘Brat’ printed on each side. The lime cube doesn’t stay up for long, dropping to the floor to reveal XCX in its middle, from where she breaks into the ‘365’ remix with Easyfun and Shygirl, the latter of whom joins her onstage as both artists dance wildly along to the track like they’re in the club rather than on stage at MSG.
XCX and Sivan spend the night seamlessly transitioning from each other’s acts. The latter impressively belts out the likes of ‘One Of Your Girls’ and ‘Rager Teenager!’, and dances through his exquisite choreography with the same magnetic pull of some of the pop icons who’ve come before him, like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga.
Witnessing two stars at the top of their game would be more than enough of a present, but tonight, the two stars come bearing yet more gifts for the sold-out crowd. As the beginning of Spears’ ‘Everytime’ starts playing, Addison Rae appears to perform her latest viral track ‘Diet Pepsi’ with XCX and Sivan assisting her on vocals. After, she and XCX take things up a notch for a rowdy rendition of their ‘Von Dutch’ remix.
The surprises don’t stop there. After changing her outfit from a white corset and a denim miniskirt into a strapless nude dress with a brown fur coat and heels, XCX launches into ‘Girl, so confusing’. At the other end of the catwalk, Lorde appears dressed in a matching outfit, ready to “work it out on the remix” IRL. As the pair sing, “‘Girl, you walk like a bitch’ / When I was ten, someone said that,” they strut down the runway, transforming the venue into the hottest fashion show on Earth.
“How’s this sold-out arena feeling?” XCX asks during the middle of the show.“ I never really saw this for myself, but bitch, we proved them wrong motherfucker!” During her time on stage tonight, XCX goes one further and justifies why so many fans have been vying to see her. She dominates the room by herself in a way that’s reminiscent of Freddie Mercury during Queen’s legendary Live Aid performance. He was able to command a crowd without uttering a single word and the British pop star wields the same power here.
Both Sivan and XCX have spent time as pop’s underdogs – niche at the start of their respective careers but, in hindsight, always ahead of the game. As they wrap up the night with performances of their collaborations ‘1999’ and the ‘Talk Talk’ remix, it’s clear that they’ve both not just mastered their craft but are now getting the recognition they deserve. ‘Brat’ summer might be over, but these two are just getting started.
Charli XCX and Troye Sivan played:
Troye Sivan:
‘Got Me Started’
‘What’s the Time Where You Are?’
‘My My My!’
Charli XCX:
‘365 remix with easyfun and shygirl’ (with Shygirl)
‘360’
‘Von dutch’
Troye Sivan:
‘In My Room’
‘Dance to This’
‘Rager teenager!’
Charli XCX:
‘Club Classics’
‘Unlock It’
‘Sympathy is a knife’
‘Guess featuring Billie Eilish’
Troye Sivan:
‘Bloom’
Charli XCX:
‘Spring Breakers’
‘Diet Pepsi’ (with Addison Rae)
‘Von dutch a.g. cook remix featuring Addison Rae’ (with Addison Rae)
‘Girl, so confusing featuring lorde’ (with Lorde)
Troye Sivan:
‘One of Your Girls’
Charli XCX:
‘Everything is romantic’
‘Speed Drive’
‘Apple’
Troye Sivan:
‘Silly’
‘You’
‘STUD’
Charli XCX:
‘365’
‘Vroom Vroom’
Charli XCX & Troye Sivan:
‘1999 (EASYFUN remix)’
Charli XCX:
‘Track 10’
‘I Love It’ (Icona Pop cover)
Troye Sivan:
‘Honey’
‘Rush’
Charli XCX & Troye Sivan:
‘Talk Talk featuring Troye Sivan’
When Lady Gaga steps onto the stage at The O2, towering above the crowd on the wide skirt of a deep red crinoline dress, it’s immediately obvious that this won’t be an ordinary Tuesday night. Known for never holding anything back, the theatrical pop visionary dives straight into world-building, transforming the arena into a surreal, camp horror setting. She faces off against another version of herself, surrounded at different moments by skeletons, witches and plague doctors.
“I must sing and build the walls to cradle my own space, and my own sound will grow the fortress of a home erased,” the two Gagas declare in unison before the grand entrance. What follows feels like a powerful reflection on the refuge and sense of belonging she has carved out with her music since her breakout moment with ‘Just Dance’ in 2008.
Aside from her newest release ‘Mayhem’, it’s the songs from her early records ‘The Fame’ (and its reissue ‘The Fame Monster’) and ‘Born This Way’ that take center stage. Although Gaga has reinvented herself many times over the years, it was those early projects and eras that built the groundwork for her artistic journey and gave her the freedom to experiment however she wished.
Lady Gaga credit: Samir Hussein/Getty Images for Live Nation
Her imagination and creative drive are fully on display tonight. One moment she’s sinking into the folds of her massive skirt, bursting out from a cage as ‘Abracadabra’ echoes around the venue. The next, she’s locked in a fierce duel with her chessboard “white queen” double during a striking performance of ‘Poker Face’. When she sings ‘Perfect Celebrity’, she moves into a sandpit, using it to show the complicated push and pull between love and resentment, gently holding and then violently gripping the skeleton lying beside her.
A breathtaking rendition of ‘Paparazzi’ keeps that feeling alive, as Gaga stumbles down the runway dressed in a white lace look partially covered with metal plates and crutches, like a knight stripped of its armor. The night is filled with imagery and layers of meaning, but she never loses sight of making it pure entertainment.
She also uses the moment to acknowledge the people who have supported her along the way. A triumphant ‘Born This Way’ becomes a tribute to the queer community. Gaga speaks from the heart, saying they have “inspired me for my whole career” and tells them, “You are so precious to me and to the world.” Sitting at the piano during the acoustic segment, she is clearly touched by the audience’s overwhelming love and takes a quiet moment to express her emotions.
Lady Gaga credit: Samir Hussein/Getty Images for Live Nation
“I feel very, very lucky to be here tonight,” she says, looking back at the first time she performed in the UK twenty years earlier. “I feel so humbled that, almost 20 years later, I’m still here.” After emotional versions of ‘Dance In The Dark’ and ‘The Edge Of Glory’, she asks the crowd, “If I come back 20 years from now – I’ll come back sooner – but will you come and see the show?”
There’s hardly a soul in the room who wouldn’t say yes, especially after a night this imaginative and flawlessly executed. Returning to full theatrical energy, Gaga leans into the absurd for ‘Bad Romance’, telling the crowd to “put your paws up” and showing off her hands with ridiculously long, sausage-like fingers, as if she’s stepped into a gothic version of a scene from Everything Everywhere All At Once.
As flames appear on top of the opera house behind her, she walks offstage and reemerges for the encore without makeup, wearing a plain black outfit and a beanie over the hair hidden beneath countless wigs throughout the show. It’s a quiet nod to the person behind all the spectacle, but still part of the performance. Like everything she’s done tonight, it’s executed with complete precision and heart.
