By Chris Azzopardi
Photos: Henry Redcliffe
If you popped on Grindr at around 8:20 p.m. on Saturday anywhere in Detroit, you saw a grid of faces and torsos that signaled Something Very Gay Is Happening Right Now. Twinks, twunks, daddies in twink clothes. People of every gender variety. Last night’s trick. That night’s trick. Your ex-boyfriend. So much mesh and glitter and harnesses. Lime-colored everything, everywhere.
You know who and what I’m talking about because you were probably there (where else would you be?). The gathering spot: Little Caesars Arena, which felt less like an arena and, as it brought Charli XCX and Troye Sivan together, more like a place of worship for nearly two hours during the launch of the Sweat tour.
If you aren’t queer and know at least one queer person, chances are you saw that Instagram story: Charli XCX enshrouded in a lime curtain inscribed with “brat” that lifted, revealing the British electro-pop performer and producer, who took Detroit queers to one of the biggest gay clubs they’d ever experienced. The show hadn’t even started (actually, in the halls of LCA, maybe it had), but when I pulled aside local drag queen Purrrspective (@hausofpurrrspective), she already had the perfect description: “It’s like Pride!”
An arena show usually requires a high-budget spectacle, but Sivan and Charli’s lo-fi, industrial approach at the Sweat show delivered a level of authenticity, raw energy and club-kid edge that money can’t buy. Recently, Lindsay Zoladz of The New York Times likened attending a Charli XCX concert to experiencing “semi-legal warehouse raves.”
My friend offered an even more vivid comparison. When Charli XCX appeared later in the performance wearing a dress crafted from tattered white fabric reminiscent of something out of a Guillermo del Toro film, I jokingly texted him: “folklore.” He replied: “If you put Taylor Swift in a garbage disposal.”
In a sense, the concert was the antithesis of a Taylor Swift performance: as stripped back of a major arena show as I’ve ever seen. It was an event that plunged you into the muck, demanding you get your hands dirty, and left little room for contemplation. From the moment Sivan took the stage, you were seized by raw sensuality and sheer attitude.
He eased the audience in with “Got Me Started,” which included one of many crotch-grab moments and an ensemble of all-male dancers who said “gay sex” with their breezy choreography before expressing it more literally later in the show in ways that I once could only imagine for any show, let alone an arena-sized one: Sivan miming a blowjob on the microphone. Sivan making out with a male dancer. Sivan simulating butt-fucking as a different male dancer got behind him, thrusting. In case you still had any questions about what kind of show you were at, the red lights were Steamworks red and there was a tunnel of cages bridging the main stage to the in-the-round stage, which suggested its own kind of sex appeal.
The energy surged to new levels when Charli XCX did emerge. The show stayed horny (and later got hornier), but it also morphed into the rave Zoladz promised it would, as Detroit proved it is brat, the term that defined the summer thanks to her album of the same name. By design, the show was organically laid-back: aside from the headliners, the throbbing lights did the heavy lifting over a simple multi-platform stage. If you were the only gay person not there, imagine a night out at your favorite queer club — but on steroids.
After Charli and Troye each performed songs from their solo albums, they came together on stage, initially hyping each other up before fully teaming up for performances of “1999” and “Talk Talk.” Both artists reached back beyond material from the “Brat” album and Sivan’s 2023 release “Something to Give Each Other.” Charli XCX’s “Boys” made an appearance, and she playfully called out to the crowd with, “Where all my gay boys at?” Troye Sivan’s “Bloom,” a song about bottoming, felt right at home with this crowd.
Meanwhile, Charli XCX brought an audacious energy and fearless, anything-goes attitude that perfectly embodied “brat” — the summer trend even noticed by Presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Charli transformed “brat” into a bold dance statement. Amid a sea of hand-bumping, unapologetic brats, the term evolved into a vibrant queer movement celebrating nonconformity, unabashed sexuality and self-expression. Lime wasn’t just a color worn on the outside; it was a palpable, electrifying feeling. That night, that color alone — and I’d go as far to say so many of us — came alive in new ways.
CHARLI XCX & TROYE SIVAN PRESENT: SWEAT (With special guest Shygirl) will come to Atlanta on Thursday, October 3 at State Farm Arena (ed.).
Chris Azzopardi is the Editorial Director of Pride Source Media Group and Q Syndicate, the national LGBTQ+ wire service. He has interviewed a multitude of superstars, including Cher, Meryl Streep, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ and Billboard. Reach him via Twitter @chrisazzopardi.
