Hello Rams! Welcome back to Concert Capsule, where you live the music through the writing. For this issue, I will be recapping the SWEAT Tour by Charli XCX and Troye Sivan.
If I was tasked to create a list of the defying artists of my life, in every lifetime, Charli XCX would have a guaranteed spot. In the seven years I’ve spent riding for Charli, her recent career explosion accredited by the “Brat” album has been a victory lap I have tearfully celebrated from the sidelines.
Including Troye Sivan as a co-headliner was not only a genius marketing move in terms of having an almost identical fan base to Charli’s, but this line-up aligned with my personal taste tremendously. I resonate closely with Sivan’s work on his recent album “Something To Give Each Other,” a documentation of a love-quest filled with infatuation, vulnerability, and liberation. With both of these musicians leading a predominantly queer audience, the idea of the duo embarking on a joint-tour birthed the origin of a dance floor open to anybody regardless of gender or sexual identity—at a time when the world needed it most.
To preface the SWEAT Tour, nearly the entire setlist is subject to electronic rave-like numbers, all containing high-energy performances and blaring ‘sweaty’ crowds. I arrived in a handmade Charli XCX tank top with a black bandana to hold my hair back, making the decision to sacrifice high couture by wearing breezy clothing to prevent heat limitations. Observing the arena, many drew costume inspiration from Charli’s infamous shade of Brat green, or Sivan’s iconic “Got Me Started” music video. Knowing beforehand I had a floor ticket, in hopes of securing a good view I showed up to que four hours before showtime—a decision that would bless me one row away from the stage.
Shygirl was stationed as the opening act. When I tell you that this show was the all-star cast of my dreams I am not exaggerating. Her “ALIAS” EP is what shifted my attention toward her music, pushing the boundaries of what electronic music could represent by infusing elements of industrial pop and R&B–I had no choice but to have her on my radar. Keeping consistent with the party-anthem theme of the SWEAT Tour, Shygirl turned the crowd from zero to one hundred in a matter of minutes. “Nike” and “mr useless” stood as my favorites from her set, both accomplishing the job of warming me up in preparation for the main acts.
Sivan took the stage first, opening the show with “Got Me Started” and “What’s The Time Where You Are.” Behind him would be his entourage of dancers and together, they for sure started up every single person in the room. Though these songs are dance-pop anthems, witnessing a Queer man headlining an arena holds so much inspiration to me. While one half of me was screaming, dancing, and jumping to every lyric—the other half of me was taking in what was before me in awe, evoking hope for my future.
Before I knew it, a curtain of the Brat album cover would drop on each corner of the catwalk’s end and Charli XCX appeared before my very eyes. Her entrance didn’t just amaze me by its lighting production, but her opening exploded on various social media platforms due to the high camp idea to have the album cover speak for itself by being itself. She’d start her set with the “365” remix featuring Shygirl, inviting her back on stage to perform it with her. Charli would playfully preface the epicness ahead to the crowd, “Shy you ready for tonight…or what?”
Remixes “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish and “Girl, so confusing” featuring Lorde were not just stand-outs of Charli’s career but also the show. The careful resonation I hold towards Lorde’s vulnerability on her “Girl, so confusing” verse made belching every word a healing moment for me even in such a rave-like concert. I’d get back to the jamboree to repeatedly scream “GUESS!” a bajillion times while watching Charli own the catwalk. She’d cheer our enthusiasm in elation, “That’s right night two! Sing it to me!”
How these two switched sets effortlessly weighs great influence to how much rehearsal and strategy must have gone into the show’s technicality. With a transition under ten seconds, Sivan would be back to perform the pop-perfection hit that is “One Of Your Girls” with internet personality Vinnie Hacker. My vocal cords worked overtime for this one, singing to the loudest extent I possibly could—not because of Hacker being a special guest but rather the sentimentality of this song. It isn’t just important to me because I just relate to it personally, but I believe it’s a phenomenal example of how it feels to navigate love inside the LGBTQ+ community.
Pitch black consumed the arena until I could spot Charli on a billboard stage-prop to perform the internet sensation “Apple.” On June 14th, 2024, New York based actress Kelley Heyer posted a made-up dance of Apple onto her TikTok account, unaware that her choreography would take social media by storm. Overnight, celebrities began uploading their attempt of the coined term ‘Apple Dance’ onto the TikTok, resulting in the song amassing over 1.6 million videos on the platform.
It would be no shock for the Apple dance to make its appearance at the SWEAT Tour. Every night Charli performed the chart-topper she’d send out a camera-man to scour the crowd for a lucky fan to perform the dance on the stage’s jumbotron. For my show, Internet personality Brittany Broski was selected to perform the famed dance. In an unfortunate turn of events she’d be pushed out the frame by an unnamed man, leading to a viral video of the instance gaining over 10 million views on TikTok.
An encore of “I Love It,” “Rush,” and finale “Talk talk” featuring Troye Sivan was resemblant of an afterparty following the most energetic night of my life. On Dec. 27th, 2024, the duo would release “SWEAT in VR,” a movie rendition of the acclaimed SWEAT Tour. During the I Love It performance, the camera would shift to a shot of the crowd and to my pleasant surprise I, Ian Henriquez, somehow made a feature in the film.
I am drenched. The SWEAT Tour was a feeling of vivation I wish I could bottle up forever. From what I experienced tonight, both of these musical icons are going to continue to have extraordinary careers and I am forever grateful for the gift to witness it. Until next time, the SWEAT Tour!
