Seventeen years after the Pussycat Dolls final carried out reside dates within the UK, Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt returned to Leeds First Direct Area final evening (October 2) with a assured, kinetic celebration of their pop legacy – and a well timed reminder that few acts know methods to placed on a present fairly just like the Dolls.
Make no mistake: these are showgirls within the truest sense. There aren’t any tips or gimmicks required when the choreography is that this sharp, the motion this exact and the stage presence this commanding. From the opening run of ‘Once I Develop Up’, ‘Beep’, ‘Whatcha Assume About That’ and ‘I Don’t Want A Man’, the folks of Leeds had been on their toes, dancing with the form of abandon that comes from placing the realities of on a regular basis life on pause.
And Leeds got here prepared. New woman group Deja Vu acquired a heat welcome because the opening act, whereas Lil’ Kim had the world transferring earlier than the Dolls had even appeared. By the point Scherzinger, Roberts and Wyatt took the stage, the ambiance was already charged. The message was clear: tonight, nothing else issues.
The Pussycat Dolls’ again catalogue has at all times been broader than it’s generally given credit score for. Drawn from 2005’s ‘PCD’ and 2008’s ‘Doll Domination’, the set slips between shiny pop, R&B, hip-hop, dance and Bollywood influences with out ever feeling disjointed. Twenty years on, the songs don’t sound trapped of their period; they’ve been given sufficient power, perspective and conviction to really feel remarkably alive within the current. Beneath the genre-hopping and pop gloss, that acquainted thread of confidence and self-empowerment stays intact.
There was loads of dialogue surrounding the present Pussycat Dolls line-up, however none of it appears to observe them onto the stage. Ashley, Kimberly and Nicole share a straightforward chemistry, with real heat between them and sufficient room for every to make the present her personal. Their interactions really feel pure relatively than choreographed, every taking moments to handle the gang, communicate their reality, and remind us that there are three distinct personalities contained in the Pussycat Dolls machine.
There has additionally been loads of on-line dialog across the tour’s manufacturing. Considered as a complete, nonetheless, its relative simplicity works in its favour. The set is modern, fashionable, and intentionally uncomplicated, by no means trying to compete with the performers at its centre. This isn’t a present constructed round spectacle for spectacle’s sake; the Pussycat Dolls present the theatrics themselves. Why gown up the spectacle when the Dolls are the spectacle?
The dancers are equally integral to the visible language of the present. Greater than supporting gamers, they bring about their very own aptitude whereas matching the relentless tempo of the choreography. Roberts and Wyatt transfer like skilled athletes, each step exact however by no means sterile, delivered with character, intuition and loads of sass. Scherzinger, in the meantime, stays a formidable vocalist – managed, hovering and highly effective, with a voice that may fill an area with out ever seeming to pressure for it.
The solo sections peel again the collective to disclose the ladies behind the group. Backstage interviews filmed throughout rehearsals introduce every section, giving the trio area to replicate on their particular person journeys and what continues to tug them in direction of the stage. Completely different paths, completely different views, however the identical underlying connection: music, efficiency and the sisterhood that introduced them right here.
Wyatt takes the primary detour from the Dolls catalogue, performing materials from Her Majesty & the Wolves, her post-Dolls musical mission, earlier than taking management of the decks. A run of dopamine-inducing throwbacks turns the world into her personal short-term dancefloor. Fearless, articulate and visibly obsessed with dance, Wyatt has an authenticity that’s troublesome to fabricate – and it comes by in each beat of her solo set.
Roberts follows with ‘Lady Up’, her candy but highly effective vocals accompanied by visuals tracing the function of dance and household all through her life. It’s a softer, extra susceptible second, earlier than she returns to motion for a mesmerising dance solo. Highly effective, expressive and utterly in tune with the music, it makes the case for Roberts as a performer in her personal proper.
Then comes Scherzinger, who wastes no time reminding the room precisely what she will do. Opening with a show-stopping ‘As If We By no means Mentioned Goodbye’ from Sundown Boulevard, she rises above the stage bathed in gold as sparks fall behind her. From there, her 2011 solo album ‘Killer Love’ will get its second within the highlight, with ‘Don’t Maintain Your Breath’, ‘Moist’ and ‘Poison’ delivered with the form of management that makes “easy” really feel like an understatement. Fierce, commanding and vocally formidable, Scherzinger stays one in every of this technology’s most underappreciated musical performers.
Again as a unit, the Dolls return with ‘Buttons’, ‘Hush Hush’ – full with a fleeting detour by Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ – and ‘React’, full with the now-iconic chair choreography. Greater than an hour into the present, there may be nonetheless no significant dip in power. The dance breaks are a direct line again to the routines that made the group such a drive within the 2000s, recreated with all of the precision and perspective that made them immediately recognisable within the first place.
‘Stickwitu’ gives a softer counterpoint, the world illuminated by 1000’s of telephone lights, earlier than ‘Don’t Cha’ closes the evening precisely because it ought to: with an infinite singalong and a whole room briefly liberated from its inhibitions.
As a result of beneath the reunion, the nostalgia and the controversy that has surrounded the Pussycat Dolls over time, there’s something straightforward to neglect: what these songs truly felt like after they first arrived.
Empowered. Free. Fearless.
Twenty years later, the Dolls nonetheless know methods to make an area really feel precisely that method.
The PCD Eternally Tour stops off at Liverpool’s M&S Financial institution Area 3 October; then excursions UK till 13 October. Tickets for all remaining exhibits will be bought on-line right here.
Tell us your ideas on the Pussycat Dolls over on CelebMix socials now!
