On September 25th, Lily Parr, HAHS graduate Ava Parr, and I attended the Sweat Tour by Charli XCX and Troye Sivan at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. When they announced their tour together early this summer, we knew it was a concert we could not miss. We arrived on time and got in line to buy merch, but it was a bit disappointing, bland, and overpriced. We paid around one hundred dollars for each ticket, and for seats in the lower bowl front row, we were more than pleased with our view. The opener was Shygirl, and while she is not someone I would usually listen to, she was the perfect choice for this tour and really matched the vibe well. Troye and Charli took turns performing, and each time one came back on stage, it felt like the concert was starting all over again. While neither Charli or Troye like to stick to one genre, I would say Troye does very much pop music while Charli does a mix up of Pop and Dance Music. Two times they came out on stage together to perform their song 1999 and their brand new song Talk Talk. The outfits, visuals, stage setup, vocals, and overall production were out of this world. I was most excited to hear What’s The Time Where You Are and Dance to This (feat. Ariana Grande) from Troye, hoping Ariana might show up, but even though she did not, I later found out her brother, Frankie Grande, was in the pit right in front of us. From Charli, I could not wait to hear Sympathy is a Knife and Track 10 because they are such beautiful songs, and she performed them so well live. Charli is known for using autotune, but I think it makes her sound even more fun. While getting into the venue was easy, leaving was not. We stayed till the very end, so we knew we were risking getting stuck in the crowd of people being pushed back and forth. Ever since that night, I have been waiting, not so patiently, for the next chance to see either Charli or Troye perform again.
Lily described the experience as “truly worth every bit” and even called it “almost life altering.” The song she was most excited about from Troye was Rush, which she considers her “anthem” and she especially loves the music video he made for it. For Charli’s set, Lily’s favorite songs were Track 10 and Von Dutch. She picked Track 10 because it is one of her favorite Charli XCX songs, and Von Dutch because it is perfect for jumping around and dancing. Lily also loved the beautiful singing from both artists, even though Charli used a lot of autotune. When asked if she would do it again, Lily replied, “I would do it a million times again. That had to be one of the best nights of my life. So much fun, so much energy, the vibes were insane. It was everything and more.”
