There were lime-green tube tops, lime-green beanies, lime-green hoodies and cowboy hats and sunglasses and at least one lime-green mesh vest like something an especially with-it street paver might wear. But even those not dressed in the glaring color of Charli XCX’s glaring new album, “Brat,” were showing their devotion to the English pop singer this month, shouting along with every word as she performed all 15 of the album’s tracks for a capacity crowd vibrating with excitement at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles. “I don’t want to sing this one — I just want to hear you sing it,” she said before the beat of “ B2B ” kicked in at a pulverizing volume, and nearly every person in the room seemed overjoyed to oblige her.
With tickets going for hundreds of dollars over face value on the secondary market, this recent sold-out concert was a convocation of the ultra-loyal Charli XCX fans — Charli’s Angels, many call themselves — who’ve helped maintain her cult-fave status over the decade and change since she emerged in the early 2010s with appearances on hits like Icona Pop’s “ I Love It ,” which she co-wrote, and her own solo debut, “True Romance.” For almost Charli’s entire career, her tuneful yet edgy brand of electronic pop has held a distinct connoisseur’s appeal — a kind of if-you-know-you-know energy that’s endeared her only more deeply to her core following. Yet signs keep mounting that the wider world is starting to pay attent.
