Brisbane Showgrounds has seen its fair share of festival chaos, but nothing quite like the hyper-pop insurrection that erupted when Charli XCX took over Laneway 2025.
The night will go down in festival history – not just for the relentless summer heat or the neon-green sea of Brat baddies, but for the absolute pop mayhem that ensued the second Charli made her grand entrance.
Strutting onto the stage at 9:15pm, nonchalantly clad in tiny black shorts, knee-high boots, black sunglasses, and bathed in the radioactive glow of her Brat era, it became immediately clear: Brisbane was no longer just another festival stop – it was now the global headquarters of Brat summer.
Charli didn’t just headline: she blew the roof off it, set it on fire, and left an entire festival in the wake of her brat-powered reign.
With the distorted club throb of “365 (Shygirl Remix)” shaking the ground beneath our feet, Charli wasted zero time launching lime-green adorned punters into an hour of high-energy, high-emotion carnage. For 75 minutes, Charli ruled with futuristic synths and a level of chaos that could probably power an entire inner-city grid.
@ellenrwatson @Charli XCX #charlixcx #laneway #brisbane
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From “Rewind” to the chaotic, euphoric scream-along of “Von Dutch”, the energy never dipped. The crowd – a perfectly unhinged mix of hyperpop devotees, rave rats, and people who still quote Skins unironically – lost their minds in unison. “Club Classics” hit like a strobe-lit fever dream. “Unlock It” had people two-stepping so hard they left their souls in the mosh. “Girl, So Confusing” became an emotional group therapy session, with thousands screaming Lorde’s verse into the abyss.
By the time she got to “Guess”, Billie Eilish’s absence barely registered—the crowd took over her verse without missing a beat.
And then, just when it seemed like things couldn’t get more unhinged, she dropped “Vroom Vroom”.
If there was an official soundtrack for making terrible decisions at 3am, this was it. People were throwing themselves into the air like their lives depended on it. At least three bucket hats were sacrificed in the name of pop supremacy.
@ellenrwatson @Charli XCX #charlixcx #laneway #brisbane
By the time Charli hit the final chorus of “I Love It”, Brisbane was in shambles. A wasteland of glitter, sunglasses worn purely for aesthetics, punters lying on the ground whispering “brat summer is forever” to themselves.
Charli’s grip on Australia is stronger than ever. Her 2022 album Crash went No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and by 2024, Brat had evolved beyond just a record – it was a movement. TikTok was overrun with brat-coded dance challenges. The DIY fashion scene was drowning in neon-green mesh. Indie sleaze was back from the grave, low-rise jeans and all. If hyperpop was once a niche, Charli obliterated that boundary, proving that her brand of sweaty, chaotic, club-ready pop was more than just a trend—it was a lifestyle.
Laneway wasn’t just a festival slot for Charli. It was a victory lap. A confirmation that the brat movement wasn’t just an online moment—it was alive, throbbing, and pulsating through the veins of thousands of festival-goers losing their minds in real-time.
Brisbane might still be recovering, but one thing’s for sure: brat summer didn’t end in the Northern Hemisphere. It just relocated.
@ellenrwatson Guess – Charli xcx #brisbane #laneway #charlixcx @Charli XCX
