Amazing unseen video of Charli XCX performing at small music festival 16 years ago

This extraordinary video shows pop superstar Charli XCXplaying in front of just a handful of people. It was taken years before she became famous and has never been seen before. The man who took it on a camcorder, which still used cassettes, knew he was filming a special talent. But even he had no idea the 16-year-old schoolgirl he was watching would reach such amazing heights.

Charli XCX’s latest album has been streamed two billion times and she is a multiple Grammyand Brit winner. And it all started for her in venues like this - a small tent on the sports fields of St Mary’s Catholic secondary School in Bishop’s Stortford, Herts.

James Burton was a young journalist when he attended a music festival back in 2009. Here he tells the story of how he first saw Charli XCX performing He said: “When I first saw her at the 2009 Bishop’s Stortford MusicFestival, she bounded on in this bizarre, eye-catching outfit of striped stockings and a black leotard.“She had a neon green scarf and dyed pink hair with a giant plastic cake in it.

“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.

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“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.”

Charli XCX’s career had been successful but her popularity exploded last year with the release of her sixth studio album Brat. The Brat phenomenon was famously embraced by former Vice President Kamala Harrisduring her 2024 presidential campaign. James, 41, recalled how he took the footage 16 years ago: “I shot it on a Canon MD205 camcorder. It was on cassette. It was a very basic piece of equipment and I remember having to use gaffer tape to keep the sound down on the microphone.

“I kept the footage, I always I knew I had it but it wasn’t until recently I dug it out to watch and here it is - it’s a piece of history now. It was too big a file to put on the website of the newspaper I worked for at the time so I actually put her performance and some other artists onto a DVD and sold it for £4 a time to raise money for McMillan - the cancercharity.”

James had first heard of Charli the year before when her EP was sent to the local paper - the Herts & Essex Observer in Bishop’s Stortford, he worked for. He was the first journalist to interview her. He recalled: “We were sent the !Francheskaar! EP in the post in August 2008 and I was asked to do a piece for the following week's arts section.

“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.

“I was really surprised when I listened before the interview, and also by the tracks that were on her MySpace- which, at the time, was how unsigned artists shared recordings. 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 Kremedoughnuts to the photographer David LaChappelle.

“It was catchy but aggressive and unfiltered, with this weird mix of pop culture references that you wouldn't expect a young teenager to be interested in. When we chatted on the phone, she was quietly confident and clearly dead keen on a music career but also very grounded.

“She was still taking her studies seriously and, actually, she later ended up in one of our A-level photo round-ups as "Charlotte Aitchison, 18, of Bishop's Stortford College - which is her real name. She clearly knew she had potential but she came across as very down-to-earth and unassuming, which was ironic considering how mad she was on stage.” A year later James, from Reading, Berks,who now works in local government comms, went to another Charli XCX gig.

He said: “In 2010, she was the main support act for ‘Daisy Dares You’ at an all-ages music night in the town centre. Funnily enough, at that point, Daisy was the one who was hotly tipped to make it big but she only released a few singles before it went quiet.

“There was a bigger audience of a few hundred this time, including a big group who were chanting ‘X - C - X! X - C - X!’ as Charli came on, and she absolutely nailed it. The outfit wasn't as bonkers this time, but she was even more polished and confident. I think the buzz around her had peaked by then, so that was probably one of her final shows before she progressed to much bigger things.

“Funnily enough, my colleague and I spotted her afterwards having a drink with some friends at the Jolly Brewers - a pub down the road in Stortford. We did consider going over to congratulate her on a great show, but we thought we'd let her enjoy her evening. As it turns out, we'd just passed up our last chance to chat with a future superstar!”

James added: “I think it's great that she's achieved her childhood dream and it was nice to see the start of that journey. “She wasn’t big-headed at all. I hope she's had fun chasing that dream and really wish her all the best. She’s been fantastic.”