If there was one place to be in New York on Tuesday night, it was Charli XCX ’s show at Brooklyn’s newly reopened and spectacularly renovated 1920s-era Paramount Theater. Matty Healy and his girlfriend Gabriette Bechtel (who chose the occasion to apparently announce their engagement ) were in the house, as were Lorde, Julia Fox, Lily Allen and probably other luminaries. But it’s hard to imagine how anyone noticed, because the concert — with blasting beats, an eye-popping light show and an equally eye-popping audience — was such a gloriously multi-sensory overload that Madonna could have jumped up in front of us and we would have just moved aside for a better view.
The seven-date, time-zone-hopping promo tour in support of Charli’s stellar just-released “Brat” — which sees her performing almost the entire album — was something we’d ordinarily call a club show: Although the itinerary specifies four dates, including this one, as “live” and three as “party girl,” her lead vocals, sung to backing tracks, were the only live musical element on this night. But her real accompanists were the electrifying light show, which was perfectly synched with the music for maximum sensory impact, and most of all the crowd, which showed up in extravagant fashion on this beautiful almost-summer night. It was a day-glo rainbow coalition of tank tops, short shorts, boots, fishnet, glitter, brightly dyed hair, mustaches and dark makeup, speckled with a legion of outfits .