Live Review: Charli XCX, Glitterbang at Chop Suey

Charlie XCX at Chop Suey (all photos by Bebe Labree Besch)

The Olympic Games might have had the Spice Girls this weekend, but on Tuesday night at Chop Suey in Seattle, we had Charli XCX. With her platform shoes and otherwise entirely black attire, Charli XCX (aka Charlotte Aitchison) embodies a gothic take as a British pop star, but keeps her music pure to the genre and does so with impressive vocals.

With a vibrantly ruffian attitude, Charli sticks her tongue out at fans and thrusts towards them to prompt their dancing to her songs. Multiple times Charli told the folks dwelling at the bar that they ought to finish their drinks soon so that they could join us properly on the dance floor. Having those at the bar join the rest of us was unnecessary though; the first three rows of fans in the crowd shared Charli’s passion to dance vigorously, and Charli XCX reciprocated the energy by singing to and reaching out to those fans dancing most enthusiastically.

Charli XCX at Chop Suey by Bebe Besch

Charli XCX’s set was a short one, as she has yet to release a debut album. By eleven o’clock the show was wrapping up, which consisted of 9 of her edgy pop songs and a cover of Echo & the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon” sprinkled halfway through. By far the most well received song was Charli XCX’s single “Nuclear Seasons,” performed third to last. Anyone in the first three rows of the crowd this time were jumping for the duration of nearly the whole song, while others tried to hit Charli’s incredibly high notes proceeding the chorus. After Charli closed with “You’re the One,” her latest single from her You’re The One EP, the crowd waited patiently for an encore in the dark but soon noticed that the show had ended as Charli was on the stage room floor actively jumping in fan photos and answering questions.

Though the entire show went flashing by quickly, as if we only were seeing a glance of the sure-to-be-huge pop sensation, Charli shook the crowd with her first Seattle performance. Charli XCX’s was incredibly friendly, and as scientists are reporting that pop songs are gradually becoming louder and blander – Charli XCX proves there is still an exciting credibility to be found in the fine tuning of a song made for simple enjoyment.

Setlist:

1. Set Me Free
2. Lock You Up
3. How Can I
4. Stay Away
5. The Killing Moon
6. End of the World
7. You
8. Nuclear Seasons
9. Grins
10. You’re the One

Glitterbang at Chop Suey by Bebe Besch

Seattle’s experimental electronic outlet Glitterbang first appeared on Tuesday night at Chop Suey. Out the duo came (which is made up of Nicki Danger on lead vocals and guitar, and JV primarily on keys and DJ duties), embracing bright neon hoods and a hint of mystery on stage. Their short set was a combination of calm pop tunes, that is, until Danger grabbed her acoustic-electric guitar and stripped off her hood for one of their final songs. Their electronic beats mixed with the guitar and her vibrant vocals made for their set’s most interesting creation – a definite surpirse among their robotic sounding first examples. Their name suggests sparkling or a fascinating ”pop” to their sound, and with this particular song, they definitely delivered.