The fourth day of Lido Festival is the first that’s sold out – and the difference in the size of the crowd is clear. For large periods of the day barriers close off the second stage which is at capacity, the queue to get into the third stage is never-ending with static attendees living their best lives, and today we have to actually wait to be served at the bar. Unreal. The huge ‘CLOSED’ sign that flashes above the second stage is the first time I’ve noticed any signage at all for the duration of the festival, and seeing as the wi-fi signal is pretty much dead on site it’d be a good idea next year to have more useful info on these boards like, maybe, the list of artists, times, and stages… just a thought.
Nevertheless, it does mean the mood is high throughout the day. The amount of Brat merchandise is incredible, and the variety suggests that much of it might have come from some enterprising Etsy sellers.
A.G. Cook, one of Charli’s regular producers, draws a fairly big crowd during the dusty early hours on this scorching afternoon and doesn’t disappoint. Playing his whacked out “Britpop”, then a literally whacked out version of “Bitter Sweet Symphony” places us in the vibe of halcyon summers from before most of the audience was born, but with a modern twist. Then he even throws in some of his own remixes of Charli songs, here voice over the speakers creating a Pavlovian response of fawning and cheering from the crowd.
Even by 4pm when Magdalena Bay take to the second stage the crowd has visibly thickened, making it tougher to walk across the site. The LA-via-Miami act make it absolutely worth the effort though, boldly kicking off their set with two of their biggest jams: “Image” and “Death & Romance”, but it instantly has the crowd singing and arm-waving in unison. You also have to admire the commitment to costume changes, with Mica Tenenbaum donning four different characterful garbs in their 40 minute slot. Also – keytar! We don’t see enough of that these days.
While most acts on the bill are certainly in the dance-pop realm, Kelly Lee Owens is firmly in the dance field, with her trance-like takes on tech-house. She makes this very clear from the off, demanding the crowd “FEEL THE DREAM STATE” in a trance like manner over propulsive beats. And they absolutely do. For the entirety of her masterful hour, she delivers banger after banger that would be better suited for 1am, but the crowd don’t care about the time, they’re absolutely here to “‘ave it” and the producer absolutely thrives.
Before The Dare takes to the stage there is a mass singalong to Katy Perry’s “Firework”, which is as sure an indication as any that everyone is having a hell of a good time. This is also the point in the day when the second stage – within the tent – becomes so packed that they actually have to barricade it off to stop more people from coming in. The Dare capitalised on this atmosphere, with his flashy, dumb-LCD Soundsystem bangers absolutely demolishing the crowd who hung on every word. And as if that wasn’t enough – he even brought out surprise guest PinkPantheress as a treat for those who’d made it inside.
Minds were definitely turning to Charli’s impending set by this point, but standing in the way was the imperious force of Gesaffelstein. The French producer’s bananas take on electronic mayhem pounds its way across the grounds as he stands atop a glittering elevated stage, pristinely presented in a tight-fitting grey suit and donning an imposing mask. “I think he might be our new overlord,” one of my party enthused.
There’s a palpable surge of anticipation just before Charli xcx is due on stage as people jockey for position to catch a glimpse through their camera phones. A thrall of glitching white lights and snippets of songs are a headrush before a green curtain descends with BRAT emblazoned upon it and then she’s suddenly – seemingly out of nowhere – on stage and leading us into “365”. It’s a shock and awe opener, a sensory overload which merely serves to set the energy bar for the night.
“360” and “Von Dutch” follow and there’s few sights more futile in contemporary pop culture than Charli xcx saying “Sing it!” to a crowd who are absolutely already singing their hearts out to every word and intonation. “I Might Say Something Stupid” drops the mood a little, and as wonderful as it is it feels like it should be later in the set as the crowd really don’t want the energy to drop. Charli knows best, though. “Club Classics” brings us back to full
There’s plenty of chat in the crowd about which guests will show up – Lorde? Billie? Troye Sivan? None of these, actually. Aside from Chicken Shop Date star Amelia Dimoldenberg taking the screen for the “Apple” dance, only Bladee makes a guest appearance on “Rewind” which goes horribly askew before they have to start it over. There are, then, flaws to the perfectly choreographed set – after all, inside the icon there’s still a young girl from Essex. A.G. Cook wanders around to the back of the stage before ambling to the front, so if you want to count that as another guest appearance then feel free to do so.
The double header of “Sympathy is a Knife” and “Guess” hurls the crowd into a frenzy, even if there is a tangible sigh of disappointment when it’s clear that Billie Eilish isn’t here (she’s in Barcelona playing a show, folks – you don’t have to be Jessica Fletcher to find that out) but everyone sings along to her part regardless.
The closing salvo of older tunes keeps the tempo going, before “I Love It” ends the show in triumphant bubblegum pop fashion. Words flash on the screen about the potential for Brat summer being over (again!) and a declaration that it’s not a summer thing, it’s a forever thing. And with that, she’s gone. There are no words of gratitude spoken to the crowd at the end – that would merely let the persona drop and show the individual behind the swaggering facade that’s been carefully and expertly cultivated in recent years. This was pop music at its peak – escapist, performative, but entirely vulnerable at its core. It’s a forever thing.
