More about: Charli XCX

The lightning strikes that chime the opening track ('Lightning') of Charli XCX's big London date on her Crash tour are extremely loud; the loudest thing I've ever heard at Ally Pally; maybe too loud. It's the perfect intro to a Charli show, an artist who divides because of her tendency to make music that's a little too much. For those who love superlatives, the biggest gig of Charli's career is a perfect tribute to that artistry.

With three outfit changes and three loose acts, Charli and her two dancers accelerate through a Best-Of compilation, including every song off her perfect album Crash and select hits from how i'm feeling now ('party 4 u' and 'visions'), Charli ('Gone' and '1999') Pop 2 ('Unlock It (Lock It)') and even SUCKER ('Boom Clap'). Standalone single 'Boys' — which Charli dedicates to all of the "gay boys out there tonight" — is perhaps the best-received moment, but it is hard to gauge considering nearly every track gets a frenzied reception that is always entirely deserved. 

It has taken Charli over a decade and an often difficult relationship with her record label to reach this point, but now there are 10,000 people standing before her in adoration and, as can be expected, it all gets a bit much. "I never thought I'd be able to do this," she says through tears, thanking contemporaries including Rina Sawayama, A.G. Cook, the late producer SOPHIE and Caroline Polachek, who makes the briefest of appearances during 'New Shapes' tonight. 

The calibre of the songs on display in this set-list is testament to how much Charli genuinely does love her Angels: with the Crash tour's striking graphics, exacting choreography and fast-paced hit-dispensing, she has given them exactly what they want. 

Sheathed in a trans flag (complete with photograph of Princess Diana) thrown to her by a member of the crowd, Charli's tears are a touching aside to a show that doesn't let up even for emotions. Returning in another outfit for the encore, she blitzes through 'Vroom Vroom', 'Visions', 'Unlock It (Lock It)' and 'Good Ones' with even more energy than before she had a little cry. Britain's best-loved cult popstar had a very big and important night at Alexandra Palace on Thursday, and so did every one of the people who came to see her.

Charli XCX played:

Lightning
Gone
Move Me
Constant Repeat
Baby
Yuck
Every Rule
Party 4 U
Used To Know Me
1999
Beg For You
Crash
Boom Clap
Boys
New Shapes
Twice

Vroom Vroom
Visions
Unlock It (Lock It)
Good Ones

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More about: Charli XCX