It’s the ‘Year of Brat’, so Why is Charli having to share The Stage? Disclaimer: I didn’t go

This article is part of The G Spot, a weekly segment where criticista Gordistotle gives insight into the pop culture happenings of now through opinions or anecdotes on his life living in Toronto.

In the biggest year of Charli XCX’s career, she embarked on a joint tour? Was this some misstep by management, an oversight? Did the label have such little faith in ‘BRAT’’s success but still want to milk Charli for the touring cash cow she is?

Let me preface, I had (emphasis on had) pit tickets to the Sweat Tour in Toronto. I knew what I was getting into. The excitement for ‘BRAT’ was high. The prospect of it all blinded me and I confirmed with a friend of a friend that I’d be attending. “Two tickets please!”.

However, after seeing both perform individual sets at Primavera Sound, I found myself growing disinterested in going. Ultimately, I let my boyfriend decide, and when he said he didn’t care enough either way, I told my friend of a friend that I wouldn’t be able to claim the tickets. I wasn’t worried about him losing money, I knew the tour would be a hit.

After months, the Sweat Tour finally kicked off in Detroit and I sighed with relief. “I really am not missing anything”. It looks like it's just the two sets awkwardly mashed together and condensed into a two-hour show, with Charli and Troye trading off every 3-4 songs. From what I saw, Charli would build up the crowd’s hype for Troye to come in with a ballad? Von Dutch into In My Room… what are we doing here… with this whole thing? 

Now I like some of the Troye songs, but the fact that it’s a joint tour… during Charli’s most successful year? Why can Charlotte never just win!? Especially with Troye Sivan being a one-off collaborator for a radio single. Rina Sawayama or Christine and the Queens were probably contenders for the second slot. The second ‘BRAT’ picked up the way it did, Troye should’ve been demoted to opener. 

Ok, maybe I’m a bit harsh, he’s fully capable of holding his own on tour. I’m sure there’s some TroyeSivan18 subscriber out there who’s been going to every show of his since his transition from YouTube that only bought Sweat Tour tickets because of him. So why not just send him on his own tour, he toured by himself in Europe just this year. Both acts are capable of pulling a crowd, why not maximize and rake the cash in? Yeah production costs and all that, but ticket prices are the highest they've ever been. I don’t really see a scenario where their respective tours wouldn't come out on top. 

It really does seem like a gross miscalculation (considering how perfectly the ‘BRAT’ marketing campaign went) to think Charli wasn’t going to be capable of headlining her own arena tour. It would have been a perfect opportunity to celebrate her new album while incorporating fan favourites from past projects. Charli’s tours have always sold well. The Crash Tour had 69 shows. Given just how much more popular she’s become, expecting her to sell out 12,000 capacity venues as opposed to 3,000 should have been a no brainer. Is there a possibility that Kim Petras’ failure to sell out arenas scared Charli’s touring manager? It’s poor management to equate Charli and Kim’s fame. To the untrained eye, they may seem like peers, but Charli’s manager should have known not all khias are created equally.

Despite it all, Troye is on this tour with her whether I like it or not. It’s just unfortunate that he hasn’t been able to provide any memorable moments. Check the SeeYouNextTuesday Instagram! They went and it’s only videos of Charli posted! Troye just happens to be in them.

The only discourse I've seen surrounding Troye’s solo portion of the set aside was from the first day when people were saying go girl give us nothing. 

Now the purpose of this article isn’t to entirely dunk on Troye. It’s just again, a shame that Charli wasn’t able to have her own moment. Just like Kelley Heyer, apple dance creator, she’s forced to share her hard-earned limelight with an interloper. 

The tour was promoted as a club set, essentially an arena-sized Boiler Room, so what’s up with Troye’s slow jams sprinkled in between Charli’s club bangers? It just all seems very disjointed, and not in a good way. It’s not like I want the set to be split directly in half with 1999 as the transitional song (even if that isn’t a bad idea), I’d get nicotine poisoning from a smoke break that long. I just wish there was more cohesion in the way the two sets interacted with each other because instead of them being complimentary, they’re in competition. 

This all being said, a joint tour was a misstep for Troye as well. ‘Something To Give Each Other’ was a huge success, and the tour of the same name was sold out across Europe. Management opting for a joint tour stateside has completely overshadowed his portion of the set. Let’s face it, ‘BRAT’ is massive, people are going for Charli. Neither of them are having their rightful moment in the sun. It’s bizarre and anticlimactic. These artists should be celebrating their own career achievements, not awkwardly sharing a stage with each other.  

Thankfully, Charli is ultimately embarking on her own ‘BRAT’ Arena Tour in the United Kingdom later this year. While I don’t regret missing the Sweat Tour… I’m definitely envious of anyone who gets to see Charli’s tour the way it should have been from the start. Hopefully, the set list incorporates some deeper cuts that were left off to accommodate Troye. You could say I’m a dreamer!