Since her breakout almost a decade ago, singer and rapper Doja Cat has been musically restless: bouncing between the pop-rap of her first album Amala to her darker, toothier 2023 release Scarlet; collaborating with SZA then heel-turning to cover Hole. On last year’s fifth album Vie she negotiated the tension between the pop persona she once denounced as a “cash grab” and her true freak artistic self – a tension she plays to perfection during tonight’s show.
After a prelude where Doja hovers above the stage in Klaus Nomi-esque shoulder pads and a 20-metre long train – perhaps elaborate trolling aimed at fans who complained about her lack of outfit changes earlier in the tour – she arrives fully formed as a purple-clad bandleader for a run of 80s inflected tracks from Vie and 2021’s Planet Her. Fronting a 10-person band, she’s an immediately commanding presence, wearing pasties, a high-waisted bodysuit, tights and gloves, her zebra print microphone matching her heels. She has the look of a scene-kid Prince, the blond of recent shows swapped for an acid green wig. Appropriately, the synergy between her and her band is reminiscent of Purple Rain, or a glam-rock Stop Making Sense. She moves seamlessly between modes and poses, from slow jam Make It Up – more muscular live than on record – to the swagger of Ain’t Shit and Paint the Town Red.
Doja breaks away from her band for a darker, rockier section, largely devoted to songs from Scarlet. For WYM Freestyle, Wet Vagina and a metal version of Tia Tamera she performs an acrobatic floor show; tongue out, grinding against the mic stand, her tights ripped in the back. Whipping the mic cord around her neck during Demons, she’s messy but doesn’t miss a note – truly the woman whose Celebrity Skin cover was co-signed by Courtney Love. By the end of the set she’s somehow merged the two modes: both unhinged iconoclast and slick bandleader, a twerking contradiction, a true star. Some lesser popstars need to rely on novelty and costume changes to keep their show interesting, but it’s enough for Doja Cat to naturally move between all her strange, authentic selves.
• Doja Cat plays Co-Op Live, Manchester, 23 May; then tours UK until 29 May
