Doja Cat Gives Commanding Performance at L.A. Stop on ‘The Scarlet Tour’

“I got drive, I don’t need a car.” 

That line from the second verse of Doja Cat’s No. 1 single “Paint the Town Red” succinctly captures how determined she was to rev up the audience during the second stop on her first-ever headlining arena tour.

Kicking off with a sold-out evening at San Francisco’s Chase Center on Halloween (Oct. 31), Doja Cat’s The Scarlet Tour touched down at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night with opening act Doechii. The venue was packed from the floor all the way up to the rafters thanks to a fervently loyal fanbase whose colorful attire also spoke volumes about their feelings for the singer-songwriter. 

Red, of course, was the color of the evening. The attire ranged from two gentlemen sporting matching long-fringed vests to a woman strutting around in a striking red sequined V-necked mini-dress. There were also longtime loyalists wearing cow-print clothing in honor of Doja’s 2018 breakthrough single “Mooo!” — and even reciting the lyrics as they walked by one another. There were also plenty of fans sporting cat ears.

As the venue darkened, fan anticipation immediately transformed into a deafening roar as Doja Cat took the stage in a red, form-fitting bodysuit to belt out “WYM Freestyle.” And for the next 90 minutes, an energetic Doja Cat gave as good as she got in return from an enthusiastic, cell-filming audience that unflaggingly sang and rapped along with her every step of the way.

Divided into five acts, the 24-song setlist is primarily centered around Scarlet. In addition to “Paint the Town Red,” which received a rollicking response from the crowd, among the other album tracks that had fans in a frenzy were “Demons” (accompanied by a huge black spider hovering over her), “Shutcho,” “Ouchies,” and show closer “Wet Vagina.” But Doja Cat also reached back to 2021’s Planet Her to perform tracks including “Kiss Me More,” “Woman,” “Ain’t Shit” and “Need to Know” as well as “Say So” from 2019’s Hot Pink album. 

Vocally strong throughout, Doja Cat agilely traversed between singing and rapping while effortlessly shifting from up to midtempo and ballad then back up again. Getting her dance on as well, including a little twerking, you could see that a confident Doja Cat was having fun — and eager to make sure her fans were too. Also complicit in keeping the audience on its feet and igniting a steady stream of screams and shout-outs (“Yes, girl!”; “You’re soooo good!”) were Doja Cat’s supple and sensuous dance crew, fire bursts and other special effects plus video screen graphics depicting such images as shattered glass and a female silhouette adorned with wings.

The Scarlet Tour’s next stop is Friday night (Nov. 3) in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena. Additional stops on the 24-city tour include Phoenix (Nov. 8), Dallas (Nov. 16), Atlanta (Nov. 19) and Brooklyn, New York (Nov. 29) before wrapping in Chicago (Dec. 13). Opening for Doja Cat on the later shows will be Ice Spice.