At exactly 8:30 p.m., the lights go off at the Wells Fargo Center. After a summer of waiting and anticipation, the night has arrived. Troye Sivan takes the stage, joined soon after by Charli xcx. It's the spectacle of a lifetime. For those of us here at Street who survived the concert and can parse through our memories of the evening, we offer up all of our reflections, ruminations, and reviews of the night.
Troye Sivan well exceeded expectations with his performances of “My My My!” and “One Of Your Girls.” Sivan and his backup dancers' suggestive choreography felt appropriate in the context of SWEAT: body–positive and celebratory of queer sexuality while also not taking itself too seriously and perfectly complementing Sivan's flirty lyrics. But it was Charli xcx and Troye Sivan's joint performance of “Talk talk” that stole the show Wednesday night. Both pop artists have a powerful stage presence on their own, and taken together the effect was an iconic, but also quite, lovely message about cross–gender and cross–cultural friendship. Friends that slay together stay together, to use the old adage.
—Jo Kelly, Music beat
As fun as it is to dissect club culture and “bratology” and New York and “blah blah blah,” I think the conversation around Charli xcx as well as Troye Sivan needs to recenter on MUSIC. And wow, is that music incredible! There’s something so illuminating about unapologetic pop music; what a revelation to dance and sing to catchy music! To have FUN and enjoy a song or concert simply because it makes you happy. Regardless of the impact of BRAT and Sivan’s underappreciated yet WILDLY significant Something to Give Each Other, the SWEAT tour was fun. At the end of the day, what matters more?
—Kyle Grgecic, Film & TV beat
I woke up the next day with a pounding headache booming throughout my head, ears ringing, body aching, and my throat feeling like a cat tried to claw out of it—yet I think I was the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. I merely thought about the concert and instantly I could replay every single strobe light, scream, beat, and lyric. SWEAT tour was the bonding event of a lifetime, where I saw all my friends throughout the night dolled up in the most eye–catching, outlandishly sexy outfits, all dancing along to Troye Sivan x Charli xcx.
—Fiona Herzog, Arts editor
In the midst of studying for my psych midterm, I decided I needed a radical change. Not only was I losing my mind from practicing hundreds of flashcards and mapping the brain, but SWEAT Tour was in T–minus 24 hours. By midnight at the Stroffice, Digital Managing Editor Norah Rami was parting the front of my hair and hacking away with a blunt pair of scissors while I gripped the rim of a trash can. Thus, my bangs era was born. Is it absurd to cut bangs for SWEAT the night before? Yes. But did they somehow magically turn out incredible? YES. Standing on the floor, with Charli and Troye only a mere five feet away from me, I become a new person, spiritually, mentally, physically, hairically. I’M IN LOVE WITH TROYE SIVAN.
—Jules Lingenfelter, Features co–editor
Being in the pit, I was pissed off at the outfits. I’m sorry, a neon green shirt or some scrawled Sharpie on a T–shirt is NOT enough of a look for $100 tickets to the spectacle of the year. Come on, Frankie Grande was there, you have to show up! Mesh tops are verboten, but pull out in a little Eckhaus Latta. Match with your friends. Bring back those hand–beaded crop tops from summer camp. Bedazzle. I know the twinks and bi girlfriends of Philadelphia have better style horizons than I saw. Act like Henry Redcliffe is scouting.
—Logan Yuhas, Staff writer
This one goes out to Troye Sivan’s background dancers. There is something particularly intimate about holding your best friend's hands in absolute awe as Troye Sivan gives one of his background dancers a lap dance during “One of Your Girls.” From the breathlessly hot dances by those chiseled, oiled Greek gods to the scream–inducing on–stage kiss between Troye Sivan and a dancer at the end of the show, the entire concert felt like a beautiful celebration of queer sexuality and bodies. But—as I kept saying as we sprinted through the parking lot to get to our Uber—if you’re a dancer for Troye Sivan, how do you not fall in love with him? I’m not asking that facetiously, it just feels like even if it is your job, it would take insane emotional and mental gymnastics to make out with Troye Sivan every night and not fall head over heels for him. Shit, I just watched him on stage for one night and now I’m irrevocably enamored with a gay man. Like, I’d be one of your boys.
—Norah Rami, Digital managing editor
I managed to find two moments of quiet time for myself during the Sweat tour. The first happened during “Everything is romantic.” With my right hand gripping onto the metal railing ascending up to hyper–pop heaven (Wells Fargo Center nosebleeds) and my left feeling the thump of my heartbeat, it was just me and Charli for a blissful 30 seconds. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to move freely, limp curls bouncing against my eyelashes.
The second came while Troye performed “Honey,” my favorite song from Something To Give Each Other. I tasted saltiness from my upper lip and realized that nobody gave a fuck about how I looked in my stupid Amazon micro–shorts or that I smeared my mascara in the bathroom. I thought about the man dancing on stage before me and how I’d like to embody his spirit.
—Kate Ratner, Assignments editor
