Charli XCX Brought Brat Summer Back to Minneapolis
April 26, 2025 - Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis is so brat. A trend that swept the world up in its neon-green storm last summer has continued with the BRAT 2025 Arena Tour. Walking to the Target Center on April 26 to see Charli XCX, fans were decked out in all sorts of fun brat references. From “I’m so Julia” to “everything is romantic,” there wasn’t a boring outfit in sight. There was even a man in a full apple costume. Since Minneapolis was the third stop on this leg of the tour, the buzz in the air was palpable, and everything felt new and rejuvenated.
The last time Charli headlined a show in Minneapolis was in 2019. She played at the significantly smaller venue next door, First Avenue. She’s now back and selling out 15,000 seats at Target Center. It’s clear how much her impact and fame skyrocketed with the release of BRAT.
Her stage setup may have looked simple but was far from it. “Girl” was written across the entire stage, which appeared to be an homage to her song “Girl, so confusing” and there was a catwalk that extended out into the floor. Charli went up in the air, whipped her hair in the rain, and partied hard underneath the catwalk. With no backup dancers, Charli commanded the entire stage. There was gyrating, floor-licking, outfit changes, and an all-around club scene that fit the aesthetic of BRAT perfectly.
Coming in at around 90 minutes, her setlist was almost entirely from BRAT. She started and ended the main part of the show (before the encore) with “365” and hit other popular songs like “Von dutch,” “Apple,” “Girl, so confusing,” and “Guess.” Both “Girl, so confusing” and “Guess” were the versions with Lorde and Billie Eilish, respectively.
Photo via Instagram
Hailing Minneapolis as the “craziest crowd,” Charli was feeling the energy in Minneapolis. The seats were largely there for show, as every person in sight was standing and dancing the entire show. Charli even pointed out three fans in the crowd after she played “Club classics.” Often, during slower songs at concerts, the audience sits—but that wasn’t the case here. When she played her slower songs, “I Might Say Something Stupid” and “Rewind,” fans remained standing despite going hard to the previous songs.
Prior to the tour, I wondered how many songs not from BRAT she would include. I was pleasantly surprised to learn her entire encore was songs from different albums and included “Party 4 U,” “Vroom Vroom,” and “Track 10.” The final song to close out the night was none other than “I Love It.” There’s nothing that can get a crowd more hyped up than this song. Whether it’s played at a bar or at a concert, “I Love It” always hits.
Photo via Instagram
There was only one mishap of the night at the end of the show when a thank-you message to the city mistakenly displayed ‘Austin’ instead of ‘Minneapolis.’ Despite this, it was apparent Charli held a deep love and appreciation for the crowd that she was in and mentioned Minneapolis by name several times throughout the night. Fans didn’t seem to mind and passed it off as a typical mistake that really had no impact on their experience.
Brat Summer is back and better than before. With no dancers or other production onstage, Charli puts in the work to prove she doesn’t need anyone else to make the show worthwhile. The sheer amount of effort it takes to put on an entire show without any extra support is an impressive feat not often seen from popular artists on tour today—and that is the true definition of brat.
Photo via Instagram
