WPGM Reviews: Charli XCX Presents Party Girl At LIDO Festival 2025

London’s newest addition to the summer festival calendar LIDO Festival arrived in full brat green for its fifth outing across two weekends. Set in Victoria Park and named after the park’s historic Lido Field, the festival was designed to showcase some of music’s biggest headliners while curating lineups that reflect their own musical tastes. The result was a Saturday stacked with Charli XCX’s collaborators, friends and fellow label musicians.

Those familiar with All Points East would have recognised LIDO’s layout, which occupied roughly half the footprint of the larger festival. Spread across three stages, the sold out 32,000 capacity event felt packed from the moment gates opened. More on that later…

Our first stop of the day was A.G. Cook, artist, producer, and the visionary behind PC Music, who’s known for reshaping the landscape of modern pop. As front row fans screamed at the sight of Charli in the VIP pit, Cook spun out his signature bouncy beats, including selections from Brat’s remix album. In fact, most of the set featured Charli’s music, a not-so-subtle nod that this was her party, and we were all invited.

Inside Stage 2’s dome tent, the crowd packed in for Magdalena Bay. With one of 2024’s standout albums, Imaginal Disk, the synth heavy pop duo were the perfect early afternoon energy boost. Lead singer Mica Tenenbaum, electric in a powder blue jumpsuit to match her makeup, danced her way on stage as they opened with “Image”.

The bass soared across the tent, whipping the crowd into a frenzied swirl that soon spilled beyond the tent’s capacity. The band delivered a tight set of Imaginal Disk highlights, including “Death & Romance”, “Cry for Me” and “Fear, Sex”.

Next up was Wales’ own Kelly Lee Owens. Centre stage between two synth rigs and dressed in a coat lined with deep blue faux fur, Owens brought her euphoric soundscape to LIDO. The thumping bassline of “Dreamstate” rang out as her vocals echoed across the crowd.

The word ‘Euphoria’ pulsed behind her in white and blue, setting the tone for a set that leaned heavily on her new album. “Love You Got” stood out, a personal favourite, showcasing Owens’ vocal range over a thundering club ready beat.

With the sun now high overhead, The Japanese House brought her signature sky blue visuals to the main stage. While her indie pop sound might have seemed like an outlier on the bill, to Charli’s most devoted fans (especially those clued in to the Apple remix), it made perfect sense. Amber Bain joked that she only had to take a 12 minute Lime bike ride to the venue, before launching into fan favourites like “Touching Yourself”, “Sunshine Baby” and “Saw You in a Dream”.

Earlier, I mentioned the festival felt crowded from the start and it became glaringly obvious during The Dare’s set on Stage 2. With less ground than All Points East and fewer artists on the bill, programming one of the day’s most anticipated acts inside a tent backfired.

As other stages went quiet, thousands flooded towards Stage 2. Security quickly cordoned off the area, leaving huge numbers of fans stuck on the periphery with no alternative performances to watch. If LIDO returns in 2025 with names as big as Charli, it’ll need either a bigger footprint or a larger schedule to avoid bottlenecks like this.

That said, if you were one of the lucky few who made it into the tent, you were in for a treat. Despite the blazing sun outside, The Dare turned the tent into a sweaty, sleazy New York basement. His set drew clear comparisons to LCD Soundsystem and the early 2000s electroclash scene.

Surrounded by strobes, Harrison Patrick Smith owned the stage, storming around, screaming into the mic, pointing at ecstatic fans. Down in the photo pit, bras and cigarettes flew overhead during bass-heavy tracks like “Good Time” and “I Destroyed Disco”, leaving me laughing as I walked amongst them.

It was euphoric, grimy, unrelenting fun. If not for the sunlight creeping in, you’d swear it was 2am in Brooklyn. Toward the end of his set, The Dare brought out surprise guest PinkPantheress for “Stateside”, a track Smith co-wrote, before launching into his viral hit “Girls”.

As night approached, the crowd, dressed for the club in DIY brat tees, neon greens and sunglasses, surged toward the main stage. This wasn’t just another headline show; it felt like a cultural moment. Fans buzzed with speculation: would Charli bring out Addison Rae? Lorde? One of her many collaborators from earlier in the day?

Spoiler: she didn’t bring out anyone. Bladee did briefly appear, but a botched backing track and technical hiccups put a dampener on that moment. It was a slightly odd choice, given the day had been billed as a celebration of Charli’s creative circle. Still, when Charli walks on stage, the screams begin. As the ripped-up brat backdrop crashes to the floor, she asks “You ready?”

What follows is a tightly choreographed, visually slick set. In a green bra and hotpants, she commands the stage with swagger, hitting every mark with precision. Her crew of camera operators capture her energy and beam it out to the huge screens for everyone to see.

Charli tears through most of brat and the remix album, “360”, “365” and “Von Dutch” have fans on each other’s shoulders, belting every lyric. Like the albums, the live show balances techno party bangers with moments of reflection. She opens up about fame, vulnerability, and growth, yet never loses momentum.

The energy never dips. Amelia Dimoldenberg makes a cameo on the big screen to perform the viral Apple dance before Charli steps into a centre stage rain shower. Closing tracks “Party 4 U” and “I Love It” serve as nods to her earlier eras.

As lights sweep across the crowd, Charli asks, “Do I just drag it out, is it a brat summer again?”
The screen flashes: “Brat isn’t just a summer thing. It’s a forever thing.” With that, Charli ends on a final question: “Will you hate me if I stick around?”

Though her set finished 20 minutes earlier than scheduled, leading to some speculation about time cuts, it didn’t dampen the atmosphere. She delivered the brat party everyone hoped for. Who knows, maybe this was just the start of brat summer 2.0.

Words + photography by Matt Wellham // Charli XCX photography by Henry Redcliffe

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