Rescue Rooms are usually pretty on it with getting acts on stage at the right time, give or take a couple of minutes, but Charlie XCX did keep us waiting a bit. I’m not talking diva proportions, but you know, ten minutes or so. Thankfully the crowd were in high spirits and entertained themselves by singing along to Frankee’s Fuck You Right Back and Charlie XCX’s collaboration with Iggy Azalea, Fancy.
First on to the stage were the Charlie’s Angels – her all-girl backing band - followed closely by the woman herself. Her first introduction was demanding that the crowd put their middle fingers up, which they gladly obliged, before crashing straight in with the title track from her third album, Sucker. Barely pausing between songs, she grabbed an inflatable guitar and belted out Breaking Up. Already eating out of her hand, the crowd clapped along on command to the third song of the night, and her most successful track to date, I Love It.
With attitude in abundance, you can see the appeal: she’s the kind of girl you either really wanted to be, or the kind of girl you wanted to go out with when you were at school. Barely taking it down a notch for the whole gig – with the exception of Need Ur Love, which featured an on-stage guest appearance from CuckooLander, and Black Roses – the high energy pop had a dizzying effect, and was constantly punctuated by her air punching and hip thrusting. The only thing that nagged at me a bit - and it's probably because I'm not usually a pop tart - was that she had a backing track. I get it, when you're running around you don't want to miss a crucial line, but you know, with a strong voice like hers, I didn't feel that she needed it for those odd moments.
She said it was the first time she’d played in Nottingham, but I’m sure she’ll be coming back if ticket sales and the raucous calls for an encore were anything to go by. She closed down the night with as much vigour as she started with - the rather infectious Boom Clap got stuck on repeat in my head the whole way home. She must be doing something right...
Charlie XCX played Rescue Rooms on Wednesday 1 April 2015.
Charlie XCX official website
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