Charli XCX at Glastonbury 2025: Trapped in the Brat brand
I saw Charli XCX play Lido festival exactly two weeks before landing on Worthy Farm. So, I attended her performance at the Other Stage expecting a roster of new tricks… they never arrived. It was the exact same show.
When I say exact same, I mean the exact same. It wasn’t just the same setlist, but the same track-transitioning quips are yelled out into the crowd. Charli screamed the exact same “what the fucks” and “I want to see everyone here jumping”. The camera work on the screens is exactly the same, but I guess that makes sense – there are cues to hit and a visual brand to uphold. But when the realisation hit a few songs in, when she did the exact same dance moves in the outro to ‘I Might Say Something Stupid’ that I analysed a fornight ago, unpacking how the dichotomy that is played out on Brat was brought to the stage, I realised quickly that perhaps when you’ve seen Charli once, you’ve seen Charli.
Two weeks back, I noted that there’s almost an oddly corporate feel to Brat now. I noted that the crowd felt somehow more like a gathering of people who wanted to be there, be seen there or be seen to be involved in the Brat moment. Caught on the left side of the crowd in the exact area where Glastonbury’s hospitality crew came pouring out of their VIP area, that feeling was on steroids as models snapped selfies but refused to clap, and the luxury lot were too good to dance or cheer.
But there’s a degree to which a show like this relies on spectacle. Charli’s set was likely completely incredible for a first-timer, but for someone who had seen it before, it was exactly that – something I’d seen before.
Maybe it’s asking too much for something bespoke. However, as Charli said herself, “Ain’t nobody else like you Glastonbury.” When her set at Lido felt a little lacklustre in moments, with no special guests or surprises, I assumed it was a warm-up. Given the amount of her collaborators cutting about, including Lorde’s appearance the day before or AG Cook having a set only hours prior, I think every single person there thought there might be a guest appearance. Given that other festivals got them, there was definitely an energy dip again, the same I felt at Lido, when Lorde’s verse was played out on track rather than sung by the artist herself.
I said it then, and I’ll say it again, that special guests shouldn’t be the measure of a great set, but for any British artist, especially, this festival is a pinnacle and it deserves special treatment. This is a peak for Charli who had been climbing the ladder a long time before Brat skyrocketed her to the top and suddenly put her on a whole new level of fame – so I’m surprised the show didn’t reflect that at all. Her only bespoke remark, acknowledging this apex moment was, “I’m known to have a heart of stone but this very fucking emotional right now.”
But, once again, I guess there is a brand to uphold. Brat isn’t just an album, as the sales pitch has continually pointed out: it’s a lifestyle. It’s an attitude, and Charli is playing the part every second on that stage, hitting her marks, doing her dance moves, moving through hit after hit with nothing but that cool girl energy and not a moment to spare between. It’s a short, sharp set that is technically and musically flawless, and no doubt energy-wise was electric for first timers.
It leads to a conflicting conclusion, caught in the same dichotomy as last time. I think Charli XCX is kind of a genius. The way she’s played Brat at every stage has reflected that, and as she literally set fire to the album cover on the Other Stage, stepping up this ever-developing destruction of the era as fans watch the lime green get more and more tattered, that fascinating process continues as there is definitely a deeper element of her playing the crowd against themselves. The odd disconnect between herself and her set feels purposeful, like Charli is still commenting on the role of the hyped-star by refusing to even break character for a big, career-peak moment.
But I wish she had. All the best moments at Glastonbury this year have come from when the artist on stage has been visibly moved by the moment – Matty Healy weeping, CMAT baffled, English Teacher speechless. I’d much rather have seen Charli, the artist who has worked so hard for so long to hit this point, rather than Brat… once more. The same Brat as always, upholding the brand and moving through the motions.
But, given that we’re clearly building to a breaking point with Charli playing with exactly this idea of overstaying her welcome and seeing just how long she had to eek this out, wondering out loud how long an artist has before audiences start getting tired – I guess that’s the whole point and even this special Glastonbury set couldn’t be freed from that experiment.
