“Last time I was here I was having a mental breakdown. But today, I feel really, really good.”
Charli XCX at TD Garden Thursday. Courtesy Photo / Henry Redcliff
Charli XCX, with underscores, at TD Garden, Boston, Sept. 24, 2026.
“Brat summer” might be over, but on Thursday night at TD Garden, British singer-songwriter Charli XCX ushered in “Music, Fashion, Film” fall.
After she achieved such universal success with “Brat” (2024), it was easy to assume Charli’s next tour would fall short in comparison. However, with pyrotechnics, over a dozen backup dancers, and a multi-level structured set, the show went above and beyond expectations. The fifth show of the “Music, Fashion, Film” tour embraced the black-and-white refined aesthetic of the album while combining it with boldness and spectacle.
Charli XCX rose to international stardom early in her career. In 2012, she wrote the chart-topping “I Love It,” which was recorded by Swedish duo Icona Pop and featured her vocals. She was also featured on Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” in 2014, and the same year released “Boom Clap,” her first top ten single in the U.S. as a solo artist.
Her subsequent releases had an experimental electronic sound associated strongly with the alternative hyperpop genre that gave her a devoted cult following, even though she has claimed she “does not identify with music genres.” A decade later, “Brat” launched her back into mainstream pop.
The lime green imagery, upbeat vibes, and TikTok-friendly verses on “Brat” made it as much of a cultural phenomenon as an album, even getting picked up by Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign. Since then, she released “Wuthering Heights” (2026), which served as the soundtrack to Emerald Fennell’s film, and “Music, Fashion, Film.” Following its release in July, she received immediate critical acclaim for the album’s avant-pop production and introspective lyricism.
With a fierce display of flames and a single amplifier enveloped in smoke, Charli commanded the stage with a fully realized confidence as she performed “Rock Music,” a track that signals a shift from dance music to electronic rock. Despite lyrics about the nerve damage in her neck she sustained on her previous tour, she thrashed her head along to the beat before she seamlessly transitioned into the heavily rock-inspired “Yeah,” which especially highlighted the talent of her lead guitarist and drummer.
Charli then addressed the Boston crowd, a sea of black leather jackets like her own with a sprinkling of Brat-green T-shirts. “Last time I was here,” she confessed, “I was having a mental breakdown. But today, I feel really, really good.” She then launched into “Apple,” belting out deep lyrics about generational trauma alongside a catchy dance tune that received widespread attention because of a popular TikTok dance set to the song.
Charli’s candidness about her mental health is nothing new. Underneath the synth-pop beats, her lyrics often deal with themes of insecurity, stress, and hopelessness. She assures the audience, “I’m not a bad girl anymore, I promise” in the following performance, “Wink Wink.” In “I’m Afraid,” she sings, “I’m too drunk, I can’t sleep, I can’t feel, I’m afraid” with raw emotion reverberating from her full-bodied voice.
With “Card Declined,” she debuted a cast of 20 models to accompany her as she strutted the runway in a literal smoke show, rousing the audience and indulging the maximalism of the show’s production. During “Girl, so confusing,” the dancing crowd of bra-clad women made the song about womanhood, self-consciousness, and the unique dynamics of female friendships come to life.
Charli XCX and her backup models/dancers at TD Garden. – Courtesy Photo / Henry Redcliff
Throughout the show, she was followed closely by a cameraman who was projecting her in stunning high definition on two giant screens in real time. This technique expanded visual accessibility, but it also reflected the themes of the album regarding fame, film, and surveillance. It gave the experience of a live music video set — the audience was watching both the production and the product at the same time.
The lights then turned off altogether while legendary Welsh musician John Cale’s voice boomed out; only a strobe light moved carefully through the arena. Charli then returned to the stage, where she performed her vocals on “House” from “Wuthering Heights” during a full fireworks display.
“Club classics,” “365,” “360,” “Sympathy is a knife,” and “Von Dutch” were performed in quick succession, as if this was a rave and the tracks were being mixed by a live DJ, an ode to the “party girl” vibe of “Brat.” The crowd understood the assignment, dancing and jumping along.
Charli then pulled out a “surprise song” from her discography, as she does for each stop on the tour. For the Boston fans, it was “Silver Cross” from her self-titled 2019 album. “You might not all know it,” she prefaced. “But this is more for me than it is for you.”
The backup dancers then returned to the stage for “Guess,” a song that saw its version featuring Billie Eilish reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. During the song, which happens to be about undergarments, a collection of panties rained down from the ceiling of TD Garden.
Wearing a long gray T-shirt with holes and a chunky rhinestone-studded belt, she performed “2007,” “Camera,” and “party 4 u” with sincerity, passion, and volume cranked up to the max. She appeared comfortable and unequivocally herself in the spotlight, which was especially apparent in the transition to “Vroom Vroom.” Charli climbed to the top of the layered structure in the “driver’s seat” while her dancers formed the shape of a car.
She then continued to wow the audience with her performances of the B-side track “Playboy Bunny,” complete with a black feather boa, and “Magic Metal Montana.” She introduced the latter by reminding everyone that “this is a song about A.G. Cook,” her executive producer and longtime collaborator.
Charli concluded the set with the final track of “Music, Fashion, Film:” “No One Lasts Forever,” a stark reminder of the impermanence of life and the ebbs and flows of ego. The show closed with an extended outro spoken by filmmaker David Cronenberg. As Charli, her dancers, and her band held a collective pose on stage, the camera zoomed out slowly in black and white with the subtitles of Cronenberg’s repeating words: “They are dead, they are gone, no one lasts forever.”
“Oblivion is freedom” were the first words of the show, and they were repeated once again by Cronenberg at the show’s very close. The success of Charli XCX’s previous album and tour involved pressure to continuously evolve as an artist. But in denouncing that pressure and liberating herself from self-importance, she created invigorating art that brought people together to sing, dance, think, and understand a little more about themselves and each other.
Charli XCX at TD Garden Thursday. – Courtesy Photo / Henry RedcliffSetlist for Charli XCX at TD Garden, Boston, Sept. 24, 2026:
“Rock Music”
“Yeah”
“Apple”
“Wink Wink”
“Persona”
“Card Declined”
“I’m Afraid”
“Track 10”
“Girl, so confusing (remix)”
“Pink Diamond”
“House”
“Dying for You”
“Club classics”
“365 (remix)”
“360”
“Sympathy is a knife”
“Von Dutch”
“Silver Cross”
“Guess (remix)”
“If You Take Away the Music Then What Has She Got?”
“2007”
“Camera”
“party 4 u”
“Vroom Vroom”
“Playboy Bunny”
“Magic Metal Montana”
“SS26”
“No One Lasts Forever”
Shannon Murphy[email protected]
Shannon Murphy is a journalist who covers local news, arts, and entertainment, including Boston-area concerts and performances.
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