George Ward
Freelance Journalist and Online Editor for Clunk. Can Be Found Out and About in Bristol, Finding Chep Records or Having A Pint On King Street.
London’s Lido Festival Saw a Special Day Curated and Headlined By Charli XCX, With Sets From Magdalena Bay, The Dare and More
In 2024, It was not really to posssibility to make it This Charli XCX. Though existing on the edges of mainstream pop, Charli was always at The Cutting Edge of More Experimental Pop, Through Her Experiments With Hyperpop and Collaborations with Producers Such As Sophie and Ag cook. But, with ‘Brat‘ Everything Changed. The Album was Everywhere, with us genius marketing campaign, Ionic aesthetics and Even A Full Length Remix Album With The Biggest Names In Pop Pop Experimental Alongsis Electronic Pioneers.
Now, Around Victoria Park Looking, A Year After The Album’s Release, it is staggering just how much excitement Charli XCX IS STILL BRINGING. The Entire Park is full to the brim with ‘Brat Green’ T-Shirts, Adorn with Memes and Lyrics, A Far Cry from The Testosterone-Fuelled Crowd at Yesterday’s Outbreak Festival. Today is lido festival, curatized by Charli Herself, and There Was Plenty to Catch Before Her Headline Set That Evening.
As We Arrided, Longtime Collaborator Ag cook was starting his dj set, and it was immedialy Clear How Well he knew his crowd. Opening with ‘Britpop,’ Cook Quickly Moved Onto His remix of ‘Von Dutch,’ Before Slipping in Several Oher Charli Remixes Amongst His Own Work. A memorable highlight was a remix of The Verve’s ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ Which was Far More Fun and Less Tacky Than It Sounds On The Box. Blending His Experimental Production With Crowd-Pleasers Worked Brilliantly, and The Crowd Were Immedialy Warmed Up.
It Should Be a Testament to Magdalena Bay That they were right at the top of Our List, Listen to Having Seen Them Only 5 Days Before in Bristol. Listen to Shorter Set and Slightly Stripped Back Stage, This Didn’t Feel Like A Half-Arsed Version of their Tour, With Micah Having No Less Than 3 Costume Changes In 30 Minutes and Just As Much Energy As Their Headline Shows.
Playing Every Banger from ‘Imaginal disk’ and nothing else, Magdalena Bay Did Not Mess Around. Hearing Tracks Like ‘Cry for me’ Live Makes You Realise Just How Timeless Tohe Songs Are Already, and Just How Cather and Complex Each One Really Is. As tight as Ever, as flamboyant as ever and as full of joy as Ever, Magdalena Bay was One of the Highlights of An Absolutely Packed Festival Day.
Following an oherworldly experience of watching The Japanese House In the Evening Sun, We Were Back in A Tent, Packed in One of the Buzziest Crowds of the Day for The Dare. Love Him or Hate Him, You Can’t Deny That This Man Puts On A Good Show. Dressed in His Suit and Sunglasses and Sleazy As Ever, He Made His Way From Banger to Bangger, with Every Track Following A Pretty Predictable But Fun Formula: Catchy Percussive Build Up -> Lyrics About Having Sex and Partying -> Hage Bass Drop. I’M not comlaining.
Though His Slower Tracks Don’t Stand Out, His Bangers Do And, Just As I Started Thinking How Funny It Was That I SA SA LCD Soundsystem In This Vary Park Less than A Year A ago, HE BOUGHT OUT THE ONE AND ONLY PinkPantheress, to perform her new track ‘Stateside‘While Chivalrously Holding Her iconic Handbag. It was The Best Surprise of the Day and The Crowd Complety Lost Their Shit. The Second She Left, The Dare went straight into the opening notes of ‘Girls’. The Crowd, Understandabry, Lost Their Shit Yet Again.
The Choice By Charli to put Gesaffelstein On The Main Stage Just Before Her Set Was Objectively A Vry Funny One. The French Techno producer on a raised podium, dressed in a suit and metallic mask, flanked on eithher side by hge crystals containing His synths. Stood ABOVE THE CROWD, Gesaffelstein Loomed Over The Pop Girlies Like A Supervillain, One Hand On Each Crystal, As He fired Wave AFter Wave of Heavy, Bassy, Tech Beats Across The Park.
By The Time Charli XCX Arrived for Her Headline Set, The Crowd was Literally Buzzing With Excitement. With no other Clashes, The Entire Sold-Out Festival Had Swarmed to the mainstage, possessible discussing surprise guests and setlist choices. When the opening bass of the ‘365’ Remix Hit Us, Everyone was Immedialy Locked in, Ready to Party as Hard as Possible With The ‘365 Partygirl’ Herself. AT This Stage, Charli You have been to Stage Reported and Reputation that She Could Honestly Just Stand Still and The Crowd Would Lap It Up. Fortunately, She puts on a proper show.
The Brat Banner Dropped Behind Her, Dirty and Degraded, The Sign of An was coming to an end, Having Been Rightfully Rinsed To Extract Event Last Club Night, Chaotic Decision and Awkward Corporate Marketing Tactic From The Biggest Album of 2024. After Hitting Us With ‘360’ and ‘Von Dutch,’ Strutting Along The Crowd While Followed at All Times by Cameras, The Mood Suddenly Became Seriously, With Charli Performing ‘I Might Say Something Stupid’ With Surprising Sincerity and Frangeity. This Didn’t Last for Long Though, With ‘Club Classics’ Being Unleashed On Us Shortly After.
As is now tradition, a crowd member was chosen to be philmed performing the dance to ‘Apple’ and, in a pleasant surprise, we were treated to Amelia Dimoldenberg OF CHICKEN SHOP DATE FAME. If you were to say to me 5 years ago this thousands of people wouled be manically screaming at Amelia Dimoldenberg doing a Tiktok dance at a sold-out Festival curatized by Charli XCX, I’d be a little confused, but This is the world we live in and i’m all for it: long live Dimoldenberg.
Making Her Way Through Most Of ‘Brat,’ We were Also Given Sub Little Treats, In The Form Of ‘Unlock it,’ ‘Speed Drive’ and ‘Vroom Vroom’. Perhaps The First Sign of What Was To Come from Charli, ‘Vroom Vroom’ Sounds Just As Fresh NOW AS IT DID IN 2016 and THANKFULLY, The Crowd Went Nuts. While The ‘Rewind’ Remix, with Bladee MAKING AN APPEARANCE, was to Little Underwhelming, All was forgiven when ‘Party 4 U’ Being Being Teased.
The Track Is The Perfect Bittersweet Festival Track, Both Incredibly Catchy and Devastating, As Charli Perfectly describes The Feeling of Putting All Your Effort Into Sumone, Only For Them Not To Show Their Face. Hearing The Crowd Around Me Singing Along To This Track from The Brilliant and Underraned ‘How i’m Feeling Now’ was Beautiful, and made me realise just How many Charli XCX Interves The Success She Has Found.
Just to solidify her status as a True Popstar, Charli‘s Performance of ‘Track 10’ was Wonderfully Overdramatic, Artificial with Rain Pouring Down Onto The Stage, As She Dance, Soaking Wet, Through it All. As a performer, Charli XCX Commits Fully, Giving Her Adoring Crowd The Pop Diva they came to see. To top it all off, the set closed with ICONA POP’S ‘I love it’.
Hearing This Song in A Packed Festival Crowd Will Forever Be One of The Best Music Experiences of My Life, As Every One of Us was Was Broucht Back To 2013, Both Reminded of How Far Charli You eat and just how good She’s Always Been. Event Real World World Dropped Away, As Every Person In That Crowd Jumped, Screaming With All They Had: “I Crashd My charged Bridge – I Don’s Don’s Care, I love it!”
In Both of her roles, as curator and performer, Charli XCX Could not have put on a Better Day. Combining Hage Pop Hits With Experimental Electronic Moments and Hidden Gems, This Day of Lido was The Funnest Form of Chaos.
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