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John Aizlewood's rating
, Nothing can stop Girls Aloud
By
John Aizlewood
27 Apr 2009
As the acceptable, slightly cool but slightly kooky face of manufactured pop, Girls Aloud are refreshingly honest about what they do. Not for them the ego-tickling pretence of being songwriters or great singers. And for all their ubiquity, they avoid merging the personal and professional and so last night offered no clues to the state of Cheryl and Ashley Cole’s marriage (although he was present, unlike her wedding ring) or any hint of how their individual and collective mindset, bar the unremarkable assertion that they were pleased to be with us.
Instead they are what they are: a collective force of nature. As such, they offered a relentless jackhammer of a show. Its harshness was too loud for some younger fans but as a statement of intent for a group who have made five albums when they weren’t expected to last five minutes, it was an undeniable clunking fist.
Yet there was an endearing absence of slickness to their choreography, from the hole in one of Sarah Harding’s costumes to the rickety platform which took them, eventually, onto the mini-stage halfway to the back. They even had their Spinal Tap moment at the start of the opening, The Promise, when Cole’s hydraulic platform malfunctioned and she was singing from underneath the stage as the others hovered nine feet above it.
Less heart-tugging was the surfeit of album tracks from Out Of Control — nine — which made for a passive audience, despite the Pussycat Dolls-esque pole dancing routine during Fix Me Up and the elegance of Miss You Bow Wow. Girls Aloud are many things but they are not an albums act, while covering Britney Spears’s Womanizer did no favours to either party.
The crowd were more receptive to the hits. Sound Of The Underground, Something Kinda Ooooh and Biology remain glittering pop of the highest order. Like five strangely alluring Captain Scarlets, Girls Aloud are indestructible. Nothing, hopefully, can stop them.
Girls Aloud play the O2 Arena on 23 and 24 May and Wembley Arena 26 and 27 May (0870 4000 700).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (4)
This concert was a present for my daughters ninth birthday, would love to say it was good but unfortunately never got to see it. The music was so loud it made my daughter physically sick she was shaking, sweating and couldn't cope so we spent the entire concert in the medical room. It was far too loud and not suitable for their catchment audience which is mainly young girls. I am utterly dissgusted that i wasted £80 and a round trip of three hours to miss this. As we were leaving (early) we saw several parents taking their children home all who looked totally distressed. Girls aloud should be ashamed of themselves.
- Nikkihosford, camberleyengland, 28/04/2009 12:19
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i think this si a case of 'the emperors new clothes' - for gods sake these are five untalented women who really cannot dance, and only one (nadine), can actually sing a proper note. put against talented girlgroups such as the now defunct destiny's child (who could sing and dance at the same time without the aid of backing)they are a joke. But it seems we must applaud groups who indeed cannot sing or dance. Thats why the british music industry is a bit of a joke then - i always wondered
- Kh, London UK, 27/04/2009 15:25
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All this "trying harder" lark must really be cheesing Ashley off. He even got himself booked last week (he misses a jolly jaunt to Barcelona with the lads) to spend more reformatory time with his missus.
- Charlie, Nr. Crackpot, North Yorkshire, 27/04/2009 14:51
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As a grandfather; Let me tell you this; all the females in my family fromthe youngest three year old granddaughter to Granny herself, and their are a lot of girls in my family; love Girls Aloud; and have been to their concerts as well etc.
They all agree the Spice girls were nothing compared to them.
OK I admit it; I like Cheryl myself; I am old yes; but I am not blind yet.
- Mickyinlondon, london, 27/04/2009 13:15
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