Charli XCX delivers for those who are suckers for great pop [Review]

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By Leon Lee
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By Leon Lee |
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Charli XCX - non-stop energy, impressive vocals, excellent air guitar skills.

She's best known for collaborating with Icona Pop on their big hit I Love It and Iggy Azalea on her summer anthem Fancy, but singer Charli XCX has three solo albums under her belt. On Monday, she played Hong Kong for the first time in support of her latest, Sucker.

A diverse crowd of teens, tweens and adults eagerly waited for the British singer to come on stage at Kitec's Music Zone. And when she did, she held nothing back. Kicking off with the energetic title track from Sucker, she performed like she'd been shot out of cannon. Her energy was infectious, and the crowd grew louder and louder by the minute as they sang along to every lyric.

She moved onto Breaking Up which she performed with a giant inflatable guitar, showing off superb air guitar skills. She followed this with I Love It; if it seemed a bit early in the show to perform one of her more well-known hits, nobody complained, and the whole crowd was jumping up and down throughout.

Clad in zebra print and sunglasses, Charli absolutely owned the stage, displaying major swag as she strutted, danced or fist-pumped. The same goes for her band of three excellent female musicians, reflecting the theme of Sucker, which she has said she wrote to empower girls.

The energy scarcely faded all night. Things slowed down (a little) when she sang Stay Away and You from her first album, True Romance, but the crowd kept moving to the synth pop beats.

Although she is known mainly as a pop singer, Charli showed off a range of genres at the show. She performed an excellent cover of Allergic to Love by Swedish punk band Snuffed By The Yakuza - who she said inspired Sucker - her vocals perfectly complementing the feverish tempo.

The highlight was Break the Rules. Whether or not you're actually a student, it's near-impossible not to scream along to the catchy anthem's simple lyrics about not going to school and just wanting to break the rules.

For the encore, Charli sang the mellow Grins and her smash hit Boom Clap which the audience sang every word of. Unfortunately Fancy wasn't played until she left the stage, and it was played over the speakers, leaving fans hopelessly hoping for more.

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