The Girls Aloud Show: Live at the O2

Earlier on this year I attended all three nights of 'The Girls Aloud Show' at the Glasgow Hydro, in a section that was named the "Gift Wrapped Kitty Kat VIP Zone" (that's the standing bit encompassed by the stage in case you're wondering!). It was a bit of proper self-indulgence on my part. It cost me a small fortune to do so. It was also worth every penny.

Its only my humble opinion but Girls Aloud are the greatest girl group of all time. During the decade of the 2000's Cheryl, Kimberley, Nadine, Nicola and Sarah unleashed an unprecedented series of glorious singles which should be used in the Oxford English Dictionary as an example defining the noun 'banger'. So, it was with some excitement when they announced a big arena tour of the British Isles in 2024. It had been 11 years since they had last performed and in between times there had been the dreadful passing of Sarah Harding. This terrible event seems to have mended previous animosities between some of the girls and put everything into perspective. In the new shows there is a togetherness which was noticeably missing on the 2013 tour and the concerts were all the better for it, as this music is so effervescent and joyful, it benefits from seeing the performers loving it on stage as well.

In the event, the show that was put together was immaculate, with a setlist close to being perfect, i.e. Its banger central all the way with this one. On previous tours, the girls songs often took the form of medleys, included a disproportionate number of ballads and shared the bill with extended cover sections. This felt like the first show which fully maximised Girls Aloud strengths from start to finish. To that end, this is a set made up of all the mid and up-tempo classic singles and deep-cuts that truly define them as recording artists - the ballads (never the girls strong point) are pleasingly minimised to just two songs. But those two slow tracks are especially poignant and apt on this tour, given that the emotion of them is channelled in the direction of their missing band member. Like the other four members, Sarah was absolutely integral to the group and throughout the show, she is referenced vocally and visually in innovative ways, with the accent on celebration rather than (too much) sadness. It's a difficult thing to pull off but its done with considerable grace, love and artistry.

As a document of this live show, it has to be said that this film is quite excellent. It captures things visually as well as could be realistically expected - the only very minor criticism I could level at it would be that it didn't milk that opening, epic curtain reveal for quite long enough for my liking! But in the final analysis, this concert film showcases perfectly what is a premier division example of a pop show - we have a great group with stage presence, charisma and sex appeal; fantastic staging, which knows that in this context being ridiculous is actively good, its floating plinths to giant dresses by way of flying motorbikes all the way here; and, of course, we have a setlist of highly unique, quite brilliant pop bangers, which have aged like fine wine.

I don't think people fully realised just how loved this group was, until they went away and then came back again. The group and the audience are that bit older, wiser and, if anything, that bit more up for it than before. This concert film is a top class reminder of a great time many of us had with a cherished group of ladies.