Song of the Day #785: Charli XCX & Lorde
I don’t remember the first time I saw Charli XCX, back at Parklife in 2012. She was playing a very early afternoon slot, possibly the first or second act of the day, on the second (or was it third) stage. I have the photos to prove I was there but that’s the only memory.
I’ll never forget the second time I saw Charli XCX, when she played at the Met in 2015. She told the audience it was her first time playing in Brisbane so I wasn’t the only one that couldn’t remember when she played at Parklife in 2012. She played the Met show with an all female band, and it was one of those times where you know you’re unlikely to see them in such a small venue again. One of those times where you almost feel like you’re living in one of those video clips when a huge act plays a tiny club show in front of a devoted fanbase. Do those videos even exist anymore?
The third time I saw Charli XCX, she was headlining the main stage of the Brisbane leg of Laneway in 2020 after the 1975 pulled out of the show at the last minute and it was disappointing. The band had gone and it was just her on a massive stage singing to backing tracks. I’m sure the finances of doing this – not having to pay for the costs associated with an additional three musicians, all their gear, their stage support, the travel expenses, the time spend rehearsing, and so on – are fantastic but everything just sounds better with a live band. I just thought she was dwarfed by the expanse of the stage and didn’t fill it by herself.
I didn’t go and she her 2023 tour, which included a theatre-sized date at The Tivoli, in addition to her appearances at the ‘For The Love Festival’ but probably should have made more of an effort as her pandemic and post-pandemic output, had been great. New album Brat follows suite and will surely see her back in Australia sooner rather than later.
The remix of the album’s ‘Girl, So Confusing’ featuring Lorde is what you’d call a banger, just a great single. Not sure why it needed a remix to be heard and why it wasn’t the album version. Answers on a postcard to the usual address if you know.
