Written & Reviewed by Krysta Ayers

APRIL 22, Austin, Texas—You wouldn’t know that it was a school night by looking at the crowd of neon green-wearing fans at Moody Center on Tuesday. The sold-out venue was filled with a frenzied, youthful, energetic crowd—which was to be expected for Charli xcx, the recent Grammy-award winner who so generously gave us “brat summer” last year. She was kicking off her Brat 2025 tour with us—and boy, were we ready.

With a swift dimming of the lights and a simple neon-green backdrop with the lowercase “brat” written (and scratched out) in the center, Charli xcx made her punchy (literally, fists in the air) entrance onto the stage and immediately roused us with “365.” It was a loud rallying cry for the Angels (what Charli’s fanbase is called).

Charli on stage with smoke around her — Photo: Henry Radcliffe

In just a bra, sunglasses and high-waisted joggers, Charli pumped up her fists, gyrated, and sang straight into the camera that followed her around the stage. It was like we were witnesses to the making of her music video. She embodied the club scene of the 2010s. And as she moved through her set, playing “Von Dutch,” “Club Classics,” and “Apple,” you couldn’t convince us that we hadn’t been transported to a sleazy New York club, circa 2012. She walked beneath her catwalk, the camera following closely and jerking into new angles. She was projected onto two large screens flanking the stage.

Once we finished the choreography for “Apple,” Charli moved onto songs like “Spring Breakers” (with flashing lights and high energy), and “Girl, So Confusing,” the crowd shouting back the lyrics to Lorde’s verse. And while there weren't any surprise guests to sing their parts in their collaborated songs, we did get three more outfit changes—none of them disappointing. Changing from hot pink underwear to a polka-dot mini (very mini) skirt and then a matching set of white underwear and corset-like top. The latter she wore towards the end, during a dramatic scene of dancing under the stage-produced rain that poured down at the end of the catwalk like a scene from Step Up.

It’s a testament to Charli’s raw energy on stage that she could so easily carry an entire show by herself. With merely a perfectly executed light design and one-man film crew, Charli was able to perform with the charisma and vivacity of a full band. It was incredible to witness.

She closed out the show with a rerun of “365’ then quickly came back for her encore, still wet from her time under the rain. She played her 2017 track, “Track 10,” “Vroom Vroom,” and ended with her 2013 hit with Icona Pop, the ultry-catchy, ultra-dancy, “I Love It.” We gave the song our all as we raised our hands in the air, and feet off the ground—like club rats not wanting to acknowledge that it was time to go home.

Though Charli xcx proclaimed “brat summer” ended last year, she is far from using any punctuation that marks finality. As she demonstrated so cathartically onstage: she’s a club brat and she’s here to party.

So buckle up.