On Oct. 3, the streets of downtown Atlanta were flooded with fluorescent green and bedazzled outfits as Charli XCX and Troye Sivan stopped by State Farm Arena for their highly anticipated, co-headlining Sweat Tour. The duo sold out the arena, as they did for the majority of their twenty-two shows across North America, and gave a high energy performance that completely transformed the arena into a club.
Over this past year, both Charli XCX and Troye Sivan have gained substantial popularity after the releases of their respective new albums. In October of 2023, Sivan’s release of “Something to Give Each Other” received global attention, landing him the first Grammy nominations of his career for the leading single “Rush.” The Australian singer also found himself becoming a popular symbol following the release of his music video for “Got Me Started,” which led to a parody of the dance on “Saturday Night Live,” starring Timothée Chalamet as Sivan. Similarly, with the release of her sixth studio album, “BRAT,” Charli became a worldwide sensation, creating the phenomenon of “BRAT summer” that defined social media trends this year. The album became highly acclaimed by critics and is the top album of 2024 and the sixteenth highest rated album of all time according to the popular review website, Metacritic.
The show began at 7:30 p.m. with a twelve-song set from British artist Shygirl. Similar to Charli and Sivan, Shygirl’s music is primarily focused on dance and electronic styles with influences from hyperpop artists such as SOPHIE and Arca. She played a thirty-minute set with hits such as “mr useless” and “4eva” that raised the excitement in the crowd and got the arena ready to dance.
At around 8:30 p.m., the lights began to dim, and the audience erupted in screams for the headline act. As the stage was unveiled, it was clear that this show would be unlike anything seen before. The stage design was set up in a way that felt exposed, as if to ensure the audience was a part of every step of the show throughout the night. The most notable element of the design was the cage underneath the runway of the stage. Over the course of the performance, dancers were seen in the caged part of the stage, as well as Charli and Troye in between various acts of the show. The cage showed the audience that the duo had nothing to hide, giving a raw performance that demonstrated the artists presenting themselves at their truest form.
Troye opened the night with “Got Me Started,” and its choreographed dance routines had everyone in the arena pretending that they were in the music video. Troye then followed it up with “What’s the Time Where You Are” and “My My My!”, leaving the audience dancing even after the song ended. As Troye exited the stage, the audience looked puzzled as to what might happen next. It was then that a large, bright green curtain with the word “BRAT” plastered across it engulfed the stage. The rest of the show would alternate between the two artists in acts, complete with outfit changes and new stage structures along the way.
Charli opened her set with Shygirl joining her for a remix of “365,” the closing song off “BRAT.” She dominated the arena with a contagious energy that flooded across the crowd. By her third song and the final of her first act, the audience was struggling to catch their breath after Charli kept urging everyone to jump. She closed the first act with “Von Dutch,” leaving the whole crowd screaming that they are “just living that life.”
Across the entire set, the two artists continued to switch back and forth between their own respective acts. In Troye’s acts, he presented a lively performance of his top songs, primarily from his most recent album. Beginning his second act, the lights dimmed to a soft pink and a large silk bed was rolled on to the front stage. For this performance of “In My Room,” he would sing from the comforts of laying down in the bed. His gold shorts and backwards hat reflect the y2k inspired, designer fashion of the tour.
One of the most memorable moments of the show was Sivan’s performance of “One of Your Girls.” The lyrics of the song explain the story of a gay man in love with a straight man, so when the introduction video to the song began to play, everyone screamed out at the sight of Troye Sivan dressed in drag, teasing what would come during the choreographed routine of the song.
During Charli’s acts, she primarily played songs from “BRAT,” accompanied by the audience screaming along to every word. With each act, she came out with different outfits of leather and lace, and she kept her stage set up revolving around the lighting of the arena. As she walked out to the front stage for “Everything is Romantic,” a large array of tube lights fell around her. During “Apple,” one of the most popular releases from the album, Charli selected one fan from the audience to do a specific dance that had been trending on TikTok during the song’s release. This moment had every fan yelling and jumping in hopes of getting selected for the dance, and the lucky fan even received feedback from Sivan, saying, “The person that just did the ‘Apple’ dance, you are welcome on the stage with us any time, I’m obsessed with you.”
Though the two artists had complete control over the crowd during their own acts, it was when they joined forces on stage together that got the audience most excited. In 2018, the duo released their first song together, “1999,” which became a fan favorite for years to come. Their live performance of this song included them rising on a platform above the stage to dance with one another as they performed their live rendition of the track. The final song of the show also included the duo working together for “Talk talk,” a song off “BRAT” that featured Troye on the remix. The extended performance of the song left the audience begging for more and hoping for further collaborations in the future.
The two artists have made it clear that in addition to their albums, their live performances will have a lasting impact on Gen-Z culture and aesthetics. State Farm Arena was ablaze with enthusiasm on Thursday night, leaving fans feeling as though they had just exited a rave. The long-awaited tour exceeded the audience’s expectations and brought an energetic night to Atlanta.