A few months ago she was still a headliner at Coachella, yesterday she was somewhat under the radar just across the language border at Les Ardentes in Liège. Doja Cat was one of the eye-catchers of the Walloon festival, which is not really famous outside the French-speaking territory. However, in the past, big names such as Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, Placebo and Liam Gallagher have been on the bill. In recent years, however, the organization has increasingly started to focus on French-language hip-hop and rap, which means that the youth of Liège can easily find what they are looking for. Unfortunately, there is also a downside to this, because big American superstars often have to make do with fewer people than a French rapper you may never have heard of.
The venue wasn’t completely full for Doja Cat either, but as so often, those who were absent were completely wrong. There is a kind of vulgar aura surrounding the American superstar, one that she immediately got rid of. After “Guided by Angels” by, yes, Amyl and The Sniffers resounded through the speakers and the intro of “Skull and Bones” had created some tension, the singer appeared on stage out of nowhere. Surrounded by three musicians and four backing vocalists, you quickly felt that something really cool might happen here. During “ACKNOWLEDGE ME” her voice didn’t quite rise above the drums, but that changed not long following.
That was partly due to the enormous enthusiasm that Doja Cat radiated. The singer was soon at the front of the catwalk, while behind her the fire(work) shot into the sky with regularity. “WYM Freestyle” was already quite sexy, partly due to the revealing outfit, “Demons” headed in the cross thanks to a half tightrope walk. The set was also simply cleverly and tightly directed, although the American never lost her sympathy. “Tia Tamara” not only brought fire to the stage, but also to the eyes of Doja Cat.
The pace slowed down a bit following that, but that didn’t mean the set had to lose any of its coolness. During “Gun”, the two large light bars subtly lowered, while Doja tried to raise the temperature a bit more in splits. And that was where the shoe pinched a bit yesterday, because the atmosphere among the Walloon audience was not necessarily conducive. The rain that slowly started to fall once more may have had something to do with it, but the American made short work of that too. She just kept on vibing at the front of her catwalk in the rain, which meant she simply owned “Get Into It (Yuh)”.
As the rain started to fall harder and harder, the atmosphere became increasingly dispirited. The backing singers had taken their places on top of the descended light bars, and during “Need To Know” the guitarist gave us a cool solo. The intro of “Streets” finally came in the form of “Mr. Sandman”, following which the flames started to rise. Doja Cat herself writhed and walked sensually through the air on her light bar, which made the guitar solo at the end of “Rules” hit even harder. That all turned out to be just the start of the final sprint, which immediately reached a high point thanks to “Paint The Town Red” with a big hit. Hands and smartphones went up in the air in large numbers, following which the closing act “Wet Vagina” warmed us up one last time with both fire and musical violence.
After an epic outro, Doja Cat proved that she has what it takes to put down a gigantic tight and strong pop show – yes, on the level of Dua Lipa. For people who are not necessarily fans of the American, that was somewhat surprising, especially because it all had something artistic regarding it. However, the American had a hard time getting Les Ardentes on her side, because following a day full of rain and a lot of mud, the audience was already pretty exhausted. Too bad she didn’t bring that decisive factor with her, because then the perfection would have been complete.
The report of the second festival day can be found here.
Setlist:
ACKNOWLEDGE ME
Shutcho
WYM Freestyle
Demons
Tia Tamera
PISS
Gun
OKLOSER
Get Into It (Yuh)
Go Off
Say So
Attention
97
wrap
Need To Know
Streets
Agora Hills
Ain’t Shit
Rules
Paint The Town Red
Wet Vagina
