Anyone who skipped Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s Monday (Sept. 23) night time live performance at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden will probably spend the remainder of this week brat-green with envy. Not solely did shock visitor Addison Rae beam in to duet with the Sweat Tour co-headliners on her effervescent viral hit “Diet Pepsi,” however Lorde descended from the heavens to present the Internet-crashing “girl, so confusing” remix its reside debut.

While the New Zealand trailblazer beforehand attended Charli XCX’s Brooklyn Paramount live performance in June, Monday night time marked the primary time that the 2 carried out their therapeutic Hot 100 hit collectively. The historic second was felt all through MSG – fairly actually, as a wave of sound from shrieking followers hit your eardrums the second it turned clear that Lorde herself had emerged from beneath the stage for the remix duet.

If the “girl, so confusing” studio recording feels like an olive department, earnestly provided however swaying unsteadily within the wind, the reside efficiency at MSG made it really feel just like the duo’s relationship was really taking roots. Charli, who beforehand dominated the stage like a wildcat on the prowl, politely held again whereas Lorde delivered her confessional verse. But by the point they hit the “you walk like a bitch” lyric, each singers had been strutting in unison towards the again of the stage with the sort of confidence and verve often reserved for fashions throughout Fashion Week.

Addison Rae, the TikTok star-turned-pop singer whose viral hit “Diet Pepsi” is shortly establishing her as a pop singer to look at, additionally loved an enormous roar of applause when she made her shock entrance to sing the aforementioned fizzy single. Even higher, Charli and Troye joined in to supply vocal assist (Sivan’s voice was notably well-suited to the sugary music). And these two weren’t the one shock friends: During “Apple,” Charli turned the cameras upon the viewers, the place Kelley Heyer – the creator behind the viral “Apple” dance on TikTok – was entrance and middle, able to ship her signature strikes whereas flaunting a brat-branded skirt.

Those pinch-me moments had been social-ready highlights, however even with out particular friends, the Sweat Tour ought to go down as a mannequin for different pop stars to observe. Instead of getting one co-headliner’s set adopted by the opposite’s, Sivan and XCX traded the stage each three-to-four songs, providing up a seamless, unpredictable two hours of sensual, thumping dance-pop that felt extra like a Bushwick homosexual bar or a U.Ok. rave than Midtown Manhattan. Not too stunning given the spots the place Charli minimize her chops, however nonetheless fairly an achievement to take an area well-known for Billy Joel residencies and Knicks video games and switch it right into a queer celebration.

Loads of the credit score for the Sweat Tour’s unrepentant, inspirational and liberating queerness goes to Sivan. From the second he hit the stage, it was clear that the Aussie singer-songwriter has discovered the proper negotiation between the sweetness of the voice, the vulnerability of his lyrics and the dancefloor-ready grooves that make for a correct celebration.

Opening the night time with “Got Me Started” (from Billboard’s third-best album of 2023, Something to Give Each Other), Sivan set the tone when he dropped to his knees towards the tip of the music, crooning the previous few lyrics whereas considered one of his well-toned backup dancers dangled the microphone suggestively in entrance of his crotch. Shades of Madonna, definitely, and never the one time in the course of the night time that Sivan drew on previous pop icons, from his *NSYNC-esque choreography on “My My My” to some Shania Twain-styled line dancing in the course of the night’s encore. But regardless of paying homage to pop icons earlier than him, Sivan’s Sweat set stood by itself – no small feat provided that Charli’s setlist was centered across the summer-defining brat album.

Toward the tip of the night time, Sivan and XCX duetted on each “1999” in addition to their “talk talk” remix. While the latter is definitely an unstoppable banger (although it’s sort of humorous to look at the 2 cosplay seducing one another whereas singing the sex-drenched lyrics), the previous provided up the emotional core of the night time. As a platform stage housing each raised above the MSG crowd, Troye and Charli traded vocals on the nostalgic banger and fed off one another’s vitality in a free, pleasant trend. Both have been low-key luminaries of the final decade in pop, and we’re fortunate to have a co-headlining tour that finds each of them at singular (and sweaty) inventive peaks.