During the COVID-19 pandemic, Victoria Walker, known to most as PinkPantheress began posting noticeably short GarageBand-produced tracks to SoundCloud and TikTok, quickly gaining popularity and beating bands such as Wet Leg and Yard Act to win the BBC’s prestigious Sound of 2022 poll. Since then, her genre-bending, garage-infused dance-pop has taken her to heights that peers could only dream of: countless artists who experienced online fame during the COVID-19 pandemic have fallen to the wayside, but PinkPantheress has refused that fate. Instead, she went on to become the first female and youngest ever recipient of the British Producer of the Year award at this year’s BRIT Awards, and returned to Manchester in May for two sold-out and sweaty nights at O2 Victoria Warehouse.
An electro-pop set from iKeda opened the night, referring back to Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, SOPHIE and previous O2 Victoria Warehouse visitor Azaelia Banks all at once. “I had a great night with Bailey J Mills, so my voice is croaky”, she told the audience, referring to the unofficial afterparty at Via that she accompanied PinkPantheress to. Shortly after she left the stage, the lights went down, and PinkPantheress was given a Gen-Z hero’s welcome.
Appearing amongst flickering lights and airport-style visuals, PinkPantheress launched into ‘Stateside’, a song which recently reached a top three position in the Official UK Singles Chart thanks to the unavoidable remix featuring Zara Larsson. ‘Romeo’, ‘Noises’ and ‘Nice to Know You’ followed to conclude the set’s first act, continuing with more from her 2025 mixtape Fancy That. Evidently inspired by a night out on Canal Street, a DJ intermission featured the PinkPantheress remix of Troye Sivan’s ‘Rush’ alongside Hyunjin of Stray Kids.
“Manchester, I brought my purse again tonight”, PinkPantheress said jocularly as she returned to the stage to launch into ‘Pain’. During the first night of her two sold-out O2 Victoria Warehouse date, fans had noticed that her “emotional support purse”, absent for a while, was firmly perched back on her shoulder, and clips began circulating social media feeds as soon as the show was over. It seems that every move PinkPantheress makes becomes a viral moment, one reason for this being her relatability. At one point during the set, she discussed her short-lived university experience, revealing “I went to not one lecture, but the annoying thing was the bills still had to be paid”.
‘Another life’ and ‘I must apologise’ followed ‘Pain’, beginning a run of standalone singles and material from previous mixtapes. “Thank you for bearing with this heat, this is an evening with PinkPantheress, I’m going to do one of my favourite songs”, she said to introduce ‘Take Me Home’, before appearing atop her stage setup in an outfit perfectly suited for ‘Angel’, her contribution to 2023’s Barbie film. This run of tracks encapsulated her ability to seamlessly move between styles and genres, from glossy garage to a powerful ballad.
A second DJ intermission saw a special guest appearance from Anz, who was surrounded by dancers holding up signs reading “SCREAM” and “APPLAUSE”, to which the crowd were more than happy to oblige. Her short but sweet set featured hits such as Basement Jaxx’s ‘Where’s Your Head At?’ and Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy (Nuxx)’. A DJ set mid-show might be an odd choice, but it sustained the energy in the room and avoided feeling out of place, instead functioning as an apt homage to the dance music PinkPantheress takes inspiration from.
Returning once again and reverting to Fancy That, PinkPantheress performed ‘Girl Like Me’, ‘Stars’ and ‘Tonight’, all of which were treated like classics despite being just a year old. “This song means a lot to me, I wrote it when I was about nineteen when I had a lot going on”, she stated before the to hell with it highlight ‘Passion’. The song’s lyrics are her most confessional, discussing misunderstood feelings, estrangement from friends and family, and the experience of losing ‘Passion’ for education, reinforcing her relatability for disillusioned young people.
‘Break it off’ similarly called back to the beginning of her career, and ‘Boy’s a liar, Pt. 2’ proved that everyone still knows the Ice Spice verse word for word, inspiring one of the set’s loudest moments. ‘Just for me’ and ‘Feel complete’ were played to close out the show, before PinkPantheress performed the viral hit ‘Illegal’. The song’s jungle remix courtesy of Nia Archives was interpolated as she left the stage, only to return for a single-song encore of ‘Attracted to You’.
The last time PinkPantheress played a show in Manchester, it was at O2 Ritz following the release of Heaven knows. Just two years later, she has managed to play to an audience over six times the size across two nights, and it wouldn’t be surprising if her next tour sees her graduate to arenas. From starting out as an internet star making short and snappy tracks, PinkPantheress has established a clear brand: it used to be her purse, but now she’s reclaiming British tropes the same way Geri Halliwell did three decades ago. Her male backing dancers appeared in tartan, and red, white and blue were the colours of the night, helping a cohesive show come to life.
