Footage has been discovered of a 16-year-old Charli XCX performing in the distinctly unglamorous surroundings of a tent at a school in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertforshire back in 2009.
This was way back in the dim and distant past when MySpace was an exciting new platform, Gordon Brown was UK Prime Minister, and people still used camcorders, which is what young journalist James Burton used to capture the footage at the Bishop’s Stortford Music Festival, which has now been put on the Daily Mirror’s website.
Charli already had a couple of self-released singles to her name at this stage and was just starting to be mentioned in what was then termed ‘the blogosphere’. “She bounded on in this bizarre, eye-catching outfit of striped stockings and a black leotard,” remembers Burton. Her look was completed with dyed pink hair, a neon green scarf and a plastic cake hair piece.
“Her set came early in the day, so she was performing to this small crowd with lots of older, and rather baffled, spectators. But it was impressive how that didn't stop her acting like she was headlining a massive festival, rather than a small community event in a school field."
Speaking to the Mirror, Burton recalled that “She was jumping all over the place and gyrating with a mic stand, which forced a few shocked parents to cover their little children's eyes. I heard gossip afterwards that the festival organisers copped a bit of flak for that, but I thought it was hilarious.”
Burton had first heard of Charli when in the previous year her first EP was sent to the paper he was working for: The Herts and Essex Observer. He was impressed enough to interview her for the paper the following week – the first journalist to do so.
“Because the EP was from a young artist, I didn't expect much. I didn't think it would be bad, but I thought it'd be fairly unremarkable. You'd get sent demos by all sorts of people who wanted to be the ‘next big thing’ and they didn't always stand out or grab you.”
He continued: “Her stuff was really raw, but she had a unique style. You could tell she'd put a lot of her own ideas into it, rather than watering herself down or being blander to try and get on the radio. I was particularly struck by a track called Dinosaur Sex. It wasn't actually about dinosaur sex, which is probably a good thing! But it was her rapping about her artistic influences and other random stuff she liked - everything, apparently, from Krispy Kreme doughnuts to the photographer David LaChappelle.”
Burton added: “I think it's great that she's achieved her childhood dream and it was nice to see the start of that journey. I hope she's had fun chasing that dream and really wish her all the best. She’s been fantastic.”
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