The long tail of Brat is visible to the naked eye at Coachella 2025, where this weekend a not insignificant portion of the crowd is dressed in the kind of asymmetrical ruffled skirts, wraparound sunglasses and black knee-high boots that Charli XCX has popularized during her culture-shaking marathon run around the album, which came out two months after last year’s Coachella.
Given that we’ve all been living through the many seasons of Brat ever since, it felt apt, reasonable and more or less expected that Charli kept her Saturday night performance almost entirely album-centric, using the slot on the Coachella mainstage — where she last appeared in 2023 — to spotlight the LP’s music, collaborators, aesthetic and attitude. The biggest twist came at the end, when she raised questions about whether or not it might be coming to a close.
The set began promptly at 7:20 p.m. with strobe-light black and white graphics on Coachella’s giant screens building a feeling of hype. Then began the strains of “365,” with Charli appearing at the center of the giant stage dressed in black micro-shorts with a chain belt, black knee-highs, a black bra, sheer black over shirt and black sunglasses, which, per usual, stayed on for the duration of the show.
She then went directly into “360” and then “Von Dutch,” during which she strutted through the crowd before returning to the stage and demanding “You ready to sing? Louder b—h!” before launching into the chorus and then going directly into “Club Classics.” By this point, the “I want to dance to me, me, me” refrain felt thematic in the sense that the entire show was kept very spare in terms of production, with the only major set piece being a riser that was used to once or twice lift Charli off the stage so she could be a bit higher while she danced. It was altogether a stark contrast to the absolute maximalism of Lady Gaga’s set on the same stage the night prior.
By comparison, Charli’s set was truly a spotlight on and a showcase for her and her stage presence. While she was able to carry the massive mainstage on her own without many bells, whistles or a single backup dancer, it also demonstrated that things are more fun with friends, as a litany of Brat collaborators joined Charli at various points to perform their respective album cuts.
The first of these moments was from Troye Sivan, Charli’s co-headliner on the 2024 Sweat Tour, who came out to sing their jaunty sex romp duet “Talk Talk” — with the great chemistry these two have palpable throughout and Charli seeming a bit more overtly joyful while performing alongside her pal.
After this came Charli’s solo performances of “I Might Say Something Stupid” and then “Apple,” which in extremely Brat fashion she sang while walking around the stage while carrying the party world drink vessel of choice, a red Solo Cup. Meanwhile, the camera panned to regular Charli associates Gabbriette, Alex Consani and Quenlin Blackwell doing the viral Apple dance in front row.
Then it was Lorde‘s turn, with the Australian star (whose jeans and t-shirt contrasted with Charli’s more club-ready outfit), coming out to sing her part on the “Girl, so confusing” remix. It was a pleasure to see the pair strutting side-by-side down the stage’s catwalk, with the moment reminding one of the power and beauty of these two working it out on the remix and catharsis in the duo’s confessional edit of the song. “Make some f—ing noise for Lorde,” Charli demanded from the crowd, before declaring “Lorde summer 2025” into the mic and Lorde then exiting after a big hug between the two.
It was moments later that Billie Eilish (wearing baggy shorts, an oversized polo shirt and a backward baseball hat) was onstage to do her part on the undeniable “Guess” remix, with the crowd having one of its biggest bursts of energy of the entire show during the song’s electro build. Quick cut edits of the pair dancing in strobe-ey lights flashed on the screen with the word “GUESS” intermittently transposed over them.
After Eilish’s exit, Charli literally crawled down the catwalk, with the crowd cheering as she thrust her hips on the stage and then crawled back towards the camera while screaming. She then stood up and just headbanged, her signature long black hair flailing. The show then shifted into softer, lovier territory while Charli sang her 2019 Lizzo collab “I Blame It On Your Love,” one of a three non-Brat songs that made it into the show. “Unlock It” from 2017’s Pop 2 had come earlier, with Charli then closing the entire performance with her classic 2012 Icona Pop collab “I Love It,” a crowd favorite and a high-energy closer.
But that wasn’t quite the end of the show. After the music, Charl stood onstage flanked by the giant screens that flashed messages seemingly beamed directly from her stream of consciousness: “Does this mean that Brat summer is finally over?” the words asked. “Idk? Maybe? Wait was it? No?? Yeah cuz duh it was already over like last year. Wait. Was it? NO??? I don’t know who I am if it’s over???” F–KKKKKKKK.”
Then the declaration momentarily took hold of itself, declaring “Wait. I remembered. I’m Charli” with images of the her name in various fonts flashing on the screen before the statement resumed by saying “and honestly… I just want this moment to last forever.” After a series of images at Charli at various points throughout her career, the screens flashed a clip of a green flag emblazoned with “Brat” waving, and then consumed in flames.
“PLEASE DON’T LET IT BE OVER,” the statement declared, at which point the show was officially done. But rest assured, Charli will be back next Saturday — same time, same place — for Coachella’s second weekend.
