Charli XCX Takes Us to the Future at Chicago Show

Words + Photos by Ava Butera

The evening of October 12th was one filled with inclusivity, uniqueness, and of course a fantastic performance by everyone’s queen — Charli XCX. Promoting her latest and long-awaited album Charli, each person present at the singer’s sold out Chicago show was anxiously awaiting her House of Blues show ever since we saw her absolutely crush her set at Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival only a few months prior. But before we could embrace Charli’s set, we had to witness her tour mates, Dorian Electra and Allie X’s performances.

First up was Dorian Electra. Accompanied by two energetic and talented dancers, Dorian completely won over the crowd with their dance-influenced music and electrifying choreographed move. By the end of Dorian’s set, the crowd was buzzing with excitement, ready for the next performance. 

Next, Allie X took the stage. Unlike Dorian’s party-like performance filled with dancing and fun music, Allie sharply contrasted that by taking the stage completely solo, with only a microphone accompanying her. With her captivating performative dance routine and serious facial expressions, she left the crowd stunned.

Finally, the moment we were all waiting for, by 9:30 sharp the lights dimmed and our girl Charli bolted onto the stage by opening her set with “Next Level Charli,” “Click,” and “I Don’t Wanna Know.” Though the crowd was jumping and screaming the lyrics by now, by the time she broke out into the fan-favorite, “Vroom Vroom,” the audience absolutely erupted and the floor felt like it was about to burst due to the crowd’s energy and dancing. Before I knew it, Charli quickly went into two of my favorite songs from her new album, “Gone” and “Cross You Out.” As I looked around, the audience soon enough turned into a club, filled with everyone dancing and singing with one another.

As her set progressed and she breezed through a set filled with almost every new song from Charli, she finally ended her set on a high note by “taking us to the future” on “2099.” While we were still buzzing with excitement and screamed for an encore, Charli came back out moments later to sing an encore filled with her hits including “Unlock It,” “I Love It,” “Boys,” and of course her latest hit, “1999.”