SWEAT is in the air in Nashville
Article written by Emily Chavarie and photos by Henry Redcliffe
There’s no doubt that the SWEAT tour was one of the most highly anticipated tours of pop music this year. The stadium was abuzz with energy from blocks away - hordes of lime green, black, and silver-clad patrons journeying through the nightly crowd of cowboy boot-wearing country fans out on Broadway (It was easy to tell who was going where). Sunglasses on indoors, glitter, and chunky chains were quite literally everywhere.
Charli opened her portion of the show with the dramatic drop of a curtain - the iconic brat green - revealing herself donning a wedding veil, white body suit, and knee-high boots, paying homage to Nashville’s reputation for bachelorette parties. You can feel Charli’s energy from across the arena - She exudes confidence, and it was a party from the get-go. I have never seen that many people jumping and singing along to every word - Charli’s music is visceral. In between songs, she slithers across the clear catwalk, the camera person catching her drooling at them from below. She opens “Vroom Vroom” with a gut-wrenching scream. The crowd and Charli have a rapport, exhibited during songs like “Guess” when they scream the word back and forth at each other. All of it is raunchy and it feels like reality.
Troye was a perfect complement to Charli, the two taking turns singing and occasionally joining forces on songs they’ve worked on together, like “1999” and “Talk Talk featuring Troye Sivan”. The trading-off of the microphone gave the show so much movement - it mimicked the way that a supportive friendship comes with a give and take. Troye’s vocal chops are impressive: He belts out ballads while executing sharp choreography and being lifted into the air by several of his chiseled backup dancers.
The stage was dressed in an industrial aesthetic with scaffolding and a cage underneath the catwalk. Flashing lights and fog bring you straight to an underground rave. Both pop icons had several costume changes, set pieces, and strapped in when a portion of the stage hoisted them up toward the roof of the arena.
