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.