Seventeen years after the Pussycat Dolls last performed live dates in the UK, Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt returned to Leeds First Direct Arena last night (October 2) with a confident, kinetic celebration of their pop legacy – and a timely reminder that few acts know how to put on a show quite like the Dolls.
Make no mistake: these are showgirls in the truest sense. There are no tricks or gimmicks required when the choreography is this sharp, the movement this precise and the stage presence this commanding. From the opening run of ‘When I Grow Up’, ‘Beep’, ‘Whatcha Think About That’ and ‘I Don’t Need A Man’, the people of Leeds were on their feet, dancing with the kind of abandon that comes from putting the realities of everyday life on pause.
And Leeds came ready. New girl group Deja Vu received a warm welcome as the opening act, while Lil’ Kim had the arena moving before the Dolls had even appeared. By the time Scherzinger, Roberts and Wyatt took the stage, the atmosphere was already charged. The message was clear: tonight, nothing else matters.
The Pussycat Dolls’ back catalogue has always been broader than it is sometimes given credit for. Drawn from 2005’s ‘PCD’ and 2008’s ‘Doll Domination’, the set slips between glossy pop, R&B, hip-hop, dance and Bollywood influences without ever feeling disjointed. Two decades on, the songs don’t sound trapped in their era; they have been given enough energy, attitude and conviction to feel remarkably alive in the present. Beneath the genre-hopping and pop gloss, that familiar thread of confidence and self-empowerment remains intact.
There has been plenty of discussion surrounding the current Pussycat Dolls line-up, but none of it seems to follow them onto the stage. Ashley, Kimberly and Nicole share an easy chemistry, with genuine warmth between them and enough room for each to make the show her own. Their interactions feel natural rather than choreographed, each taking moments to address the crowd, speak their truth, and remind us that there are three distinct personalities inside the Pussycat Dolls machine.
There has also been plenty of online conversation around the tour’s production. Viewed as a whole, however, its relative simplicity works in its favour. The set is sleek, stylish, and deliberately uncomplicated, never attempting to compete with the performers at its centre. This isn’t a show built around spectacle for spectacle’s sake; the Pussycat Dolls provide the theatrics themselves. Why dress up the spectacle when the Dolls are the spectacle?
The dancers are equally integral to the visual language of the show. More than supporting players, they bring their own flair while matching the relentless pace of the choreography. Roberts and Wyatt move like trained athletes, every step precise but never sterile, delivered with personality, instinct and plenty of sass. Scherzinger, meanwhile, remains a formidable vocalist – controlled, soaring and powerful, with a voice that can fill an arena without ever seeming to strain for it.
The solo sections peel back the collective to reveal the women behind the group. Backstage interviews filmed during rehearsals introduce each segment, giving the trio space to reflect on their individual journeys and what continues to pull them towards the stage. Different paths, different perspectives, but the same underlying connection: music, performance and the sisterhood that brought them here.
Wyatt takes the first detour from the Dolls catalogue, performing material from Her Majesty & the Wolves, her post-Dolls musical project, before taking control of the decks. A run of dopamine-inducing throwbacks turns the arena into her own temporary dancefloor. Fearless, articulate and visibly passionate about dance, Wyatt has an authenticity that is difficult to manufacture – and it comes through in every beat of her solo set.
Roberts follows with ‘Woman Up’, her sweet yet powerful vocals accompanied by visuals tracing the role of dance and family throughout her life. It is a softer, more vulnerable moment, before she returns to movement for a mesmerising dance solo. Powerful, expressive and completely in tune with the music, it makes the case for Roberts as a performer in her own right.
Then comes Scherzinger, who wastes no time reminding the room exactly what she can do. Opening with a show-stopping ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’ from Sunset Boulevard, she rises above the stage bathed in gold as sparks fall behind her. From there, her 2011 solo album ‘Killer Love’ gets its moment in the spotlight, with ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’, ‘Wet’ and ‘Poison’ delivered with the kind of control that makes “effortless” feel like an understatement. Fierce, commanding and vocally formidable, Scherzinger remains one of this generation’s most underappreciated musical performers.
Back as a unit, the Dolls return with ‘Buttons’, ‘Hush Hush’ – complete with a fleeting detour through Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ – and ‘React’, complete with the now-iconic chair choreography. More than an hour into the show, there is still no meaningful dip in energy. The dance breaks are a direct line back to the routines that made the group such a force in the 2000s, recreated with all the precision and attitude that made them instantly recognisable in the first place.
‘Stickwitu’ offers a softer counterpoint, the arena illuminated by thousands of phone lights, before ‘Don’t Cha’ closes the night exactly as it should: with an enormous singalong and an entire room temporarily liberated from its inhibitions.
Because beneath the reunion, the nostalgia and the controversy that has surrounded the Pussycat Dolls over the years, there is something easy to forget: what these songs actually felt like when they first arrived.
Empowered. Free. Fearless.
Two decades later, the Dolls still know how to make an arena feel exactly that way.
The PCD Forever Tour stops off at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena 3 October; then tours UK until 13 October. Tickets for all remaining shows can be purchased online here.
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