Last night, I had the opportunity to attend Charli XCX’s concert at Viejas Arena in San Diego, and it turned out to be one of the most entertaining live shows I’ve attended in quite some time.
While this wasn’t my first time seeing Charli perform, it was my first opportunity to experience a true Charli XCX headlining show.
Over the years, I’ve seen Charli as part of multi-artist events such as Wango Tango and Jingle Ball, where artists are often limited to abbreviated festival-style sets. Those performances were always enjoyable, but they’re fundamentally different from seeing an artist present a full-scale production built entirely around their own music, style, and creative vision.
After finally experiencing a dedicated Charli XCX concert, it’s easy to understand why her fanbase is so passionate.
The energy inside Viejas Arena was electric from the moment the show began. Charli was a commanding presence on stage, backed by an excellent team of dancers who helped make the entire production feel polished, energetic, and carefully choreographed. The pacing throughout the evening was particularly impressive. Every transition felt deliberate, and the show rarely lost momentum.
One aspect of the production that stood out was the use of pyrotechnics. Fire effects appeared throughout the evening, but unlike many arena productions that seem to believe “more is more,” Charli’s team showed remarkable restraint. The effects were used strategically rather than constantly, which made them genuinely exciting whenever they appeared. Because they weren’t overused, each burst felt impactful and memorable rather than routine. It was one of the better implementations of pyrotechnics I’ve seen in a concert setting.
The show’s wardrobe changes were also well executed. Multiple costume changes were incorporated throughout the evening, yet none of them disrupted the pacing of the performance. Too often, outfit changes create noticeable downtime. Here, they felt seamless and never brought the energy level down.
That isn’t to say the show was perfect.
My biggest criticism involves the setlist itself. Charli XCX has built an impressive catalog over the course of her career, with eight studio albums, multiple EPs, soundtrack appearances, standalone singles, and numerous collaborations with other artists. Going into the evening, I expected a healthy balance between newer material and songs drawn from throughout her career.
Instead, the set leaned heavily toward the newest album. Songs such as “party 4 u” and “Vroom Vroom” were welcome additions, but the overall balance felt closer to an 80/20 split in favor of recent material. Personally, I would have preferred something closer to a 60/40 mix between the current album and the rest of her catalog. Charli’s back catalog runs deep, and there were plenty of fan-favorite tracks that could have been incorporated into the show.
I also had mixed feelings about portions of the lighting design. While the overall production looked fantastic, there were several extended sequences featuring rapid flashing lights that simply lasted too long. A little strobing can add excitement and atmosphere, but there were multiple moments where the duration became physically uncomfortable. On more than one occasion, I found myself looking away and closing my eyes to avoid feeling sick. Some of these moments can even be seen in the footage included below.
That said, Charli’s lighting design was still considerably more effective than that of the opening act, Underscores. Much of the opening set was performed either in near-total darkness or with the performer almost completely backlit. While that aesthetic may have been intentional, it often made it difficult to see what was happening on stage. By comparison, Charli’s production struck a much stronger balance between atmosphere and visibility.
Despite those criticisms, I left Viejas Arena thoroughly impressed.
The performance was energetic, the production values were excellent, the crowd was fully engaged, and most importantly, the show was simply a lot of fun. After years of seeing Charli XCX in festival and multi-artist environments, it was rewarding to finally experience a full Charli show on its own terms.
Watch the Concert Highlights
Rather than uploading dozens of individual clips, I compiled my footage into a single highlight video capturing some of the memorable moments from the evening.
Watch the video below:
Introducing The Rewind Archive
This concert video also marks the launch of a new project: The Rewind Archive.
As longtime DC Fans readers know, the original site covered concerts, fan events, conventions, premieres, media appearances, and countless other entertainment experiences over the years. Along the way, a substantial collection of photos, video footage, interviews, and event coverage accumulated across multiple websites, hard drives, social media platforms, and video channels.
Some of that material was published. Much of it wasn’t.
The Rewind Archive was created to serve as a dedicated home for both newly captured footage and recovered archival content.
Going forward, videos related to DC Fans coverage, fan communities, live events, travel, and other media projects will be published through The Rewind Archive. The channel will feature a mix of new event coverage alongside restored and recovered content from the DC Fans era and other projects that have spent years sitting unseen in personal archives.
Future uploads may include:
- Concert footage
- Convention coverage
- Travel videos
- Fan community history
- Recovered DC Fans media
- Previously unreleased footage
- Restored videos from past projects
- New event coverage and reports
In many ways, The Rewind Archive serves as the video counterpart to the ongoing relaunch of the DC Fans Archive itself: preserving the past while continuing to create new memories and new content.
Looking Ahead
The relaunch of DC Fans has never been solely about nostalgia. It’s about preserving the stories, experiences, and community that made the site special while continuing to document new experiences along the way.
Seeing Charli XCX at Viejas Arena felt like the perfect way to kick off that next chapter. It combines everything that made the original site fun: live events, original reporting, fan culture, photography, and sharing experiences with fellow fans.
Whether you’ve been following DC Fans since its original run or are discovering the archive for the first time, thank you for joining us as we begin this next chapter.
More archives, more recovered media, and more new adventures are on the way.
Subscribe to The Rewind Archive: https://www.youtube.com/@TheArchiveRewind
Watch the Charli XCX Concert Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEkR5g2zy7M
Were you at the show? Share your thoughts in the comments below.