It was always going to be this way. Clouds of Mugler’s Alien perfume and blue raspberry-flavoured vape juice hang in the air; the fog machines are unessential, really. Here comes another emphatic sea of “olé olé olé olés” and high-pitched “oooh oooh ooohs”. Charli XCX may not be on stage yet, but punters are already joining together to belt out lyrics to hits from the singer’s literally-everywhere, verdantly lush album, brat. Over 20,000 bodies merge in the kind of primordial chaos that typically appears after midnight.

But, on the grounds of the gorgeous Malahide Castle demesne, it’s about 20 minutes after 9 p.m. and the sun is nowhere near setting. Not to mention, the weather seems to have held up favourably. No matter what happens, this night was always going to be memorable.

After five minutes of propulsive techno fanfare, the woman herself – Charli XCX – struts onstage in front of a massive brat green curtain with the album’s title scratched out. The ground is nearly vibrating from the screams as she bursts into ‘365’ [shygirl remix], which is perhaps the most raucous and rave-ready track from brat, to really get everyone going…and they certainly are. Then it’s onto ‘360’, the song which - for many - served as their brat introduction for both its earworm melody and the star-studded music video that followed: a track that’s everywhere and so Julia. In riotous collusion, everyone joined in: “360/ When you're in the mirror, do you like what you see?/ When you're in the mirror, you're just looking at me.”

Charli xcx performing at Malahide Castle in Dublin.

📸: Henry Redcliffe pic.twitter.com/pA1pj76WC5

— xcxshake (@xcxshake) June 18, 2025

Clearly on a hit parade, next up is ‘Von Dutch’, the earliest brat taster, where a camera follows Charli who is currently sashaying through the photographer’s pit. The high-octane ‘00s club track, which succinctly summarises the album itself [”cult classic but it’s still pop”], goes down expectedly well. I’m currently wondering how I’m going to maintain my voice over the next hour and change if she keeps playing belt-worthy hits like these. But one must follow the unofficial brat summer credo here, that is, to embody a spirit of hedonistic nonchalance mixed with no-holds-barred vim and vigour. To my left, I hear a girl sardonically yell some party wisdom in her mate's ear: “Who cares what tomorrow brings? We only have tonight!”.

💚@charli_xcx confirms brat summer isn't over yet...

⭐Have a look at our summer guide >> https://t.co/9n9erskmJU pic.twitter.com/gjrLrcPPjO

— Ticketmaster Ireland (@TicketmasterIre) June 18, 2025

For all its brazenness, brat is an impressively introspective and vulnerable album, too, and this comes across loud and clear as Charli XCX’s demons-expelling, cathartic solo dance numbers and impassioned vocal performance takes hold. On the EBM-laced ‘Club Classics’, XCX memorialises her close friend and peer, the late and great Sophie, which the singer supposedly wrote in a kitchen during a period of “missing hearing Sophie’s music…at parties”. At this outdoor gig-turned-nightclub rave, the spirit of the UK electronic music pioneer is still very much alive.

The viral hit ‘Apple’, which comes with its own TikTok dance, sees Charli exorcising intergenerational trauma in real-time as she – and a thousands-strong choral of punters – sing: ”I guess the apple don't fall far from the tree/ 'Cause I've been looking at you so long/ Now I only see me”. In keeping with her tradition of having someone from the crowd perform the ‘Apple’ dance on the big screen, one lucky person who has painted themselves brat green does it flawlessly despite the obvious pressure. Raising a huge brandy-shaped glass of ice water in the air, she amusedly comments in her auto-tuned Essex accent, “He’s soooo green!”.

The second-half of her 17-song set keeps up the all-killer momentum. Taking brief breaks, the singer prances side-stage while one roadie blots her sweat-beaten face with a cloth and another brushes her famed long black curls; it’s like a scene from a Botticelli painting. But Charli is quick to get things back on track.

During a recent Coachella headliner, the popstar compelled Lorde out of a recent hiatus to sing on their remix of brat’s ‘Girl, So Confusing’ which, if you ask me, elevates the original to stratospheric heights with its guts-spilling give-and-take between the two singers. As there is no such cameo tonight, Charli implores us to fill-in on Lorde’s verses as Miss XCX "walks like a b**ch" up and down the stage’s catwalk. ‘Everything is romantic’, ‘Sympathy is a knife’ and the Billie Eilish remix of ‘Guess’ pack even more of a punch, as does a reprise of the brat juggernaut ‘365’.

 

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But this concert isn’t just the brat victory lap, the set also features a handful of past fan favourites. ‘Unlock It’ and ‘Vroom Vroom’ offers a treat to the veteran disciples, while the recently-awakened sleeper hit ‘party 4 u’ comes with a standout, full-hearted performance from Charli.

Of course, brat is the headline news of the night. After all, it’s the kind of concert that’ll make you seem like the coolest person ever to your kids when you tell them of this fateful night years down the line. The album will certainly go down as one of the greatest marketing campaigns of the 21st century, but it’s also a perfect snapshot of a moment in time. I remember a friend, months back, asking if brat would have even happened if not for the long months of lockdown house arrest. It seems we all needed to overcompensate a bit, culturally speaking, and simply let loose. For this, and so much more, that brat is one of  — if not, the — era-defining albums of the 2020's should come as no surprise.

And with milestones such as these, it’s not uncommon for an artist to gaze back at their career thus far. So when Charli ends her slightly short, yet no-filler set with her and Icona Pop’s 2012 radio hit ‘I Love It’, the track brings the entire night full circle. If tonight is anything to go by, Charli XCX is up in space scorching her own path above us revellers down on Earth.  And she shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.