REVIEWS: LIVE
A major plus-side of a Greatest Hits tour is that the set list is usually hit after hit after hit. Girls Aloud’s Ten: The Hits tour certainly delivers on that front, packing in all but five of their singles in what was, on the whole, an almost chronological order. As is universally accepted, the GA repertoire is 98% incredible. And, as is universally accepted, the ladies are more than capable of putting in a blinding good show to do them justice. From an entrance atop a giant Girls Aloud logo for opener ‘Sound Of The Underground’ to an emotional montage of old footage accompanying ‘I’ll Stand By You’ (and dozens of energetic dance routines in between), the show certainly delivers visually as well as musically.
The ladies are in good vocal form throughout. The occasional bits that are mimed to a backing track are justified when the quality of the production is so high, but when it comes to the live bits, each member has their moment to shine. Nicola absolutely smashes ‘Beautiful Cause You Love Me’, Nadine’s powerhouse vocals take her wellknown verses like the ‘Untouchable’ epilogue to another plane, Kimberley shows the benefits of her newfound musical theatre experience with a significantly stronger set of pipes and the Harding Howl is back in its full, amazing glory. But the biggest kudos go to Cheryl Cole, who - despite the bad press she receives for her abilities as a singer - frequently tries her hand at extravagant riffs and very rarely falters.
Of course, as far as this particular act are concerned, sticking to the well-known singles means that beloved album tracks and B-sides that have gone down as fan favourites have been completely shunned, apart from new tune ‘On The Metro’ and the use of ‘Models’ in a video clip during a costume change. It would perhaps have been nice to give fans something like ‘Graffiti My Soul’ or ‘Memory Of You’ in place of a cover of ‘Call Me Maybe’, but it seems a shame to pick holes. The thing that sticks out most is that this feels like a farewell show; one that celebrates the last ten years with a comprehensive collection of their best anthems (minus ‘The Loving Kind’, tsk tsk) and little indication that there’s more to come. Let’s all keep everything crossed that there is. 94% @ShaunKitchener
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