“Thank you for selling this b–ch out,” Charli xcx thanked the Barclays Center crowd on Monday night (Sept. 14). Certainly, Brooklyn made for relatively safe early territory for the alt-pop star’s latest arena trek, as few other areas in the country are more likely to intuitively grasp the combined garage rock, dingy dancefloor and high art energy that comprises Charli’s Music, Fashion, Film era.
Considering that the last time she came through Barclays was on the Brat Tour in 2025 — after visiting Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden on the Sweat co-headlining tour with Troye Sivan in 2024 — it’s not surprising that the Music, Fashion, Film Tour felt like a little less of a pop culture event, without the rush of the world’s eyes being on the scene inside the arena in quite the same way. But the overall experience might have been richer, with Charli now able to mix her grungy confessionals with her self-aware club anthems and her twinkling hyperpop gems in a way that reveals them to all be coming from basically the same place, and sounding pretty dynamite when stacked back-to-back in a brilliantly designed live set.
The Music, Fashion, Film Tour so far closely follows the live set Charli debuted at a number of festival dates — most prominently Chicago’s Lollapalooza in late July — but also makes room for a number of additional songs, as well as the odd special guest or two. (Underscores also quickly proved an inspired choice of stateside opener, with her future-forward pop songs, full-bodied delivery and impressive emotional connection doing Charli’s legacy in advanced modern pop proud.)
Charli herself kept the banter to a minimum on Monday, mostly letting the songs (and her flailing dance moves) speak for themselves — with additional emotional support from her phalanxes of backing dancers and live backing band. It all added up to a a high-point performance from a pop star who functions just as naturally as a club kid and underground rocker, with all of her personas feeding into one singularly iconic presence in contemporary music: “It’s Charli, babyyyyy…“
Here were the five best moments from Charli’s first New York-area show of her Music, Fashion, Film Tour.
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Now We’re Playing Ro-o-o-o-o-o-ock
Charli xcx may spend the rest of her career ping-ponging from one varied sound to the next, but few of her switch-ups could ever possibly compare to the pivot she initially announced this year with the debut of Music, Fashion, Film lead single (and album opener) “Rock Music.” As the song came into focus on Monday night — with Charli donning a t-shirt proclaiming “I’ve Had Sex With Charli xcx” — the entire era felt immediately validated by the first “ro-o-o-o-o-ock” Auto-Tune glitch, a brilliant piss-take that cackles at you for taking it seriously while still being far too undeniably cathartic to truly laugh off.
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A “Next-Level” Secret Song
“I’ve been talking about playing old songs from different albums,” Charli rhapsodized after a quick selection of older songs partway through her set, before intro-ing a tour first-timer: “I thought this would [be good for] New York.” That apt selection was “Next Level Charli,” gleefully bombastic opener from 2019’s underrated Charli set — a valuable reminder that even outside of her most obvious cult favorites, critical favorites and commercial favorites, Charli has an entire catalog of gems always waiting to be dug into.
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When Charli Goes to Brooklyn She Wants to Play Those Brat Classics
“Dying for You,” from Charli’s Wuthering Heights soundtrack released earlier this year, was a much-appreciated “Oh right, this song” selection from a set that already feels historically underappreciated. But more significant on Monday night was what it led into, as a quick “You ready?” Charli transition led to it giving way to an entire spate of stakes-raising Brat smashes: “Club Classics,” “365,” “360,” “Sympathy Is a Knife” and “Von Dutch,” for starters. If you weren’t ready, you’d have better gotten ready right quick, otherwise the fevered Barclays Center crowd was more than prepared to leave you behind for the rest of the show.
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Special Guest Star Achievement, “Unlock”ed
Not that Charli xcx ever needs an excuse to play “Unlock It,” one of the most beloved songs off her fan-beloved 2017 set Pop 2. But certainly, having Kim Petras in the building makes it a slam dunk, as the song’s special guest feature appeared to swap vocals with her fellow alt-pop paragon — Charli mostly in black, Kim mostly in white — and have fans once again wishing for some kind of full-project team-up between the two, most likely consisting of nothing but “[Verb] It” song titles.
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Let Her Ride
If you caught one of Charli’s festival sets and hoped she might add some of her older pop classics to the eventual tour setlist, you were out of luck — with one appropriate exception. While none of her trio of 2013-14 chart smashes (“Boom Clap,” “Fancy” or “I Love It”) made appearances on the Music, Fashion, Film Tour rundown, her game-changing 2016 EP title track “Vroom Vroom” did ultimately make the cut — with Charli in control behind the wheel atop her multi-story stage perch, and her pit crew of backing dancers approximating the race-track action beneath her. It might not have been the crossover hit those top 40 bangers were, but it felt more appropriate mixed in with Charli’s past decade of favorites, not to mention the rest of the last 10 years of hyperkinetic pop music.
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