Anyone who doesn’t know who Charli XCX is at this point must be living under a rock. Her latest album “Brat,” released on June 7, quickly skyrocketed to fame online, with “brat summer” becoming the buzzword of the season. The album’s background color, a puke-y and formerly unappealing shade of neon green, became known as “brat green” and was plastered on everything from t-shirts to bumper stickers to temporary lower back tattoos. Even presidential candidate Kamala Harris embraced the brat wave and temporarily changed her Twitter banner to a replica of the album’s cover—which is just the word “brat” in a modified Arial font on the formerly mentioned neon green backdrop—with “brat” switched out for “kamala hq,” of course. As a fellow rider of the brat wave, when I saw that Charli XCX was playing at Nationwide Arena in Columbus with her good friend and collaborator Troye Sivan, I knew that I was going to have to make the two-and-a-half hour trek to go see the two of them perform.

The concert I attended was just one stop on the two artists’ aptly titled “Sweat” tour across North America. Unsurprisingly, the Columbus show was the only date in Ohio and one of three in the Midwest, the other two being Detroit and Chicago. In other words, I was likely not the only person driving a significant distance to see “Sweat.” And having seen the show, I can now say with full confidence that it was well worth said drive and the ticket cost, which I thought was quite steep even for my seat in the nosebleeds.

First and foremost, both artists are incredible performers. The concert was set up so that Sivan and Charli XCX took turns onstage, with each performing around three songs before switching spots. I was a little nervous when I learned about this arrangement before the concert, thinking that it might lead to a one-sided show if one artist was clearly out-performing the other. Luckily, this was far from the case—both singers have a ton of stage presence and infectious energy. Sivan, known for his often suggestive choreography, spent most of his time onstage in motion and surrounded by a team of backup dancers. Charli XCX typically appeared alone and strutted around the stage—and under the stage, and on the scaffolding set up above the stage—but was no less captivating than her co-headliner. They’re each incredibly confident in who they are and the music they produce, meaning that the two of them can goof off and dance to their heart’s content without it ever reading as cringey or silly.

This brings me to my next point of praise: the concert’s overall vibe. Sivan and Charli XCX have spoken about their desire to turn their tour into a rave, and I think it’s safe to say that they accomplished that goal. The thumping base, flashing strobe lights and packed-in crowd on the arena’s floor did make the concert feel pretty similar to being at the club. From my seat apart from the crowd I could see a sea of neon green in the stands from fan’s merch, and I noticed when certain numbers got every set of hands in the arena in the air. Some of the songs that whipped the audience into a frenzy were Sivan’s “Rush” as well as Charli XCX’s “Von Dutch,” “Vroom Vroom,” “I Love It” and surprisingly “Speed Drive,” which was written for the soundtrack of last summer’s “Barbie” movie.

My main criticism of the concert unfortunately must fall on the performer who did not go quite as viral over the summer. While every song Charli XCX played was a bop, Sivan’s discography is simply not as complete as hers is. Apart from “Got Me Started,” “One Of Your Girls” and of course “Rush,” all of his songs were pretty forgettable to anyone other than Sivan superfans. I really tried to get into more of his music before the concert and I honestly could not do it; a lot of his stuff is mellow to the point of boring, in my opinion. He manages to compensate onstage with the previously mentioned dance routines, but the sad truth is that he simply does not put out as many hits as Charli XCX.

All said and done, “Sweat” was a phenomenal concert with a unique atmosphere only these two artists could have created. For the many Case Western Reserve University students who are from out of state, if there’s a way for you to return home and see one of the tour’s remaining dates, I would highly encourage you to do so. And if you can swing a trip to Columbus, it’s worth keeping an eye on upcoming concerts there, as many great artists skip over Cleveland and perform in other Ohio cities instead. Otherwise, the next crumb of “Sweat” content will be Oct. 11’s brat remix album: “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.” Brat summer may be over, but I’m surely not the only person ready to embrace brat fall.