Returning to the stage united for the first time in 11 years, the most highly celebrated girl group of the noughties, Girls Aloud, began their reunion tour in Dublin this past Friday, littering the show with tributes to former member Sarah Harding, who passed away in 2021 from breast cancer. The 20-song set has been described online as ”unbelievable” with some fans claiming that it was “the best concert” they had ever been to.
Seen #TheGirlsAloudShow tonight and I honestly think it might be the best concert I’ve ever been to. The tributes to Sarah had be bawling @GirlsAloud you were unbelievable pic.twitter.com/CfMVHdCXmh
— Kathy (@KathyWasHere_) May 18, 2024
The group rose to fame in the early 2000s after competing on the ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals and went onto sell 5 million albums in the UK as well as gaining the Guinness World Record for their 20 consecutive UK Top 10 singles, a record they still hold today. They originally split in 2013 after wrapping up their third tour for their inaugural greatest hits album – The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits. For their 20th anniversary in 2022, the girls were in conversation regarding a reunion tour however it was postponed following Harding’s death. The four remaining members; Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Cheryl Tweedy (formerly Cole), decided to go ahead with the tour in memoriam of Harding. From the beginning till the end of the performance, Harding could be seen in archive footage on the large screen behind the girls as they sung on stage.
In March of this year Cheryl told the Independent that she hopes the tour will transport fans back to the 2000s. Speaking to the OfficialCharts, the band noted that their main aim for the shows is to do ‘Sarah justice and give us and our fans that moment to celebrate her. I think they need it, I think we all need it’. The recently group reissued their 2004 album ‘What Will the Neighbours Say’ which included unheard vocals from Harding and they have continued to honour her through the reunion tour. They even payed tribute to the star via a performance of ‘I’ll Stand By You’ which included the late singer’s vocals. The 2004 hit was an emotional commemoration of the artist as well as many of the sets performed during the show. You can watch footage from the performance here.
Some other fan favourites that made the cut from the group’s jam packed, chart topping discography included ‘Sound Of The Underground’, ‘Love Machine’ and ‘Whole Lotta History’. This week the girls will play two Belfast shows before heading to the AO Arena in Manchester in the second half of the week. The tour will continue all throughout May and June, wrapping up in Liverpool on the 30th of June in Liverpool. If you are feeling nostalgic and want to go along to reminisce with the girls, there are still tickets available for a number of dates across various places in the UK which you can check out here after the group added further dates due to unprecedented demand.
