It’s been a decade since Girls Aloud went on a hiatus that seemed like it may never end, but end it has, and The Girls Aloud Show has touched down for three nights in Manchester.
A lot has happened since the girl band formed on Popstars: The Rivals way back in 2002, including the tragic death of band member Sarah Harding at just 39 years old.
Girls Aloud promised that this huge arena anniversary tour would honour their late bandmate, and if Sarah was into 10/10, near-flawless pop concerts, they’ve done her justice.
It’s plainly obvious that hours and hours of rehearsal have gone into The Girls Aloud Show. They don’t put a foot wrong in the AO Arena, even if those silly inflatable red dresses played up again.
Even when a song falls a little flat, their performance sails on the wings of the choreography (their all-male troupe of dancers are phenomenal) and the production, and minor imperfections are quickly glossed over by the rest of the girls’ glorious pop catalogue.
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‘Now look over here! Look at the shiny costumes and the harmonies here!’ they seem to say whenever the audience gets fidgety, quickly moving onto another chart-topping banger.
There are a lot to get through – the gig is split into four acts, with a setlist that includes Love Machine, Biology, Something Kinda Ooooh, and Jump, and costumes that range from skin-tight glittering bodysuits to full-length gowns that may have been pinched straight out of The Supremes’ wardrobes.
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Girls Aloud performing in Manchester at the AO Arena. Credit: The Manc Group
The second act, which harks back to their slightly more urban debut album, is a personal highlight. I’ve long maintained that Sound of the Underground is one of the greatest pop songs ever written – but chuck in four scantily clad pop starlets riding airborne motorbikes and it just gets even better.
Did I walk in thinking I knew all the words to every Girls Aloud song ever released? No I did not, but these catchy little bops are apparently neatly filed in my brain ready to come tumbling out with a single wink from Cheryl Cole.
I know everyone has a favourite girlband member, and on stage each one plays to their own persona, whether that’s the impeccably graceful Nicola or the effortlessly cool Kimberly.
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And while on paper Cheryl is the most successful of the lot, this is now 2024 and I think we can all agree that Nadine Coyle is CARRYING this tour. She is an actress. She oozes charisma and camp, beaming the whole time, and looks like she is having the time of her life. It’s totally infectious and the crowd laps her up.
Sarah Harding is incorporated into the Girls Aloud tour throughout the show. Credit: The Manc Group
Of course, it’s a bittersweet celebration without Sarah. She is woven into the fabric of this band and into their live tour too. As hits like Can’t Speak French and Something New play, the original music videos play behind them. And with songs like A Whole Lotta History and I’ll Stand By You, her vocals take the lead along with a moving montage of the young late star, to rapturous applause.
If you’re surprised that Girls Aloud sold out this many arenas in this day and age, you are grossly underestimating the hold they had over British women in the noughties. We all used to buy false eyelashes modelled on their eyes, for god’s sake (personally, a big fan of Kimberley’s), and washed our hair with shampoos with their faces on the bottles.
21 years later and this is proven to be timeless pop music, and the styling of several acts of the show reflects that. Parts feel like they’re from a different era, from the tiny feather bustle stuck to Nadine’s sparkling bodysuit to the dancers in top hats and tails.
And things never feel more ageless than with The Promise, which closes the show.
Some of us may remember the music video, where all five Girls Aloud members time-travelled back to the 1960s, their makeup taking some influence from Twiggy and their hair growing exponentially larger (this was surely about the same time that Cheryl got her L’Oréal contract). The essence of that has been brought to their live show.
They shimmy behind microphone stands and perform choreography with their arms in sparkling gowns.
And then comes the real tear-jerker – this song was always Sarah Harding’s to own, and no one could quite fill those shoes. So instead of replacing her verse, she remains the star.
Sarah’s face beams across the arena, and her original vocals bellow over a tearful crowd, while the other girls turn to watch their late friend shine once again.
The night wraps up in an explosion of colour and sparkle. A properly fitting way to honour Sarah.
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Girls Aloud have two more shows in Manchester at the AO Arena to come – read our full gig guide here.
Girls Aloud setlist
Act I Untouchable The Show Something New Love Machine Can’t Speak French Biology Whole Lotta History Act II Wake Me Up Sound of the Underground Girl Overboard No Good Advice Graffiti My Soul Long Hot Summer I’ll Stand by You (Pretenders cover) ACT III Sexy! No No No… On the Metro Jump (For My Love) Call the Shots Something Kinda Ooooh Encore: The Promise
Featured image: The Manc Group
Audio
Review | Villanelle debut: Liam Gallagher’s son’s band release their first track – here’s our review
Danny Jones
Liam Gallagher’s son, Gene, and his band Villanelle, have officially released their debut single to the masses, and since we’re still very much immersing ourselves in everything even remotely to do with Oasis, we thought we’d give this first track a review.
Now, if you’re expecting a familiar Britpop vibe like his dad and uncle used to bash out back in the day, you’d be very wrong…
It’s one thing to settle into something similar to what you’ve grown up around and try to continue a lineage if you’re from a successful family – especially with a legacy as important and influential as the one left by Liam and Noel – but we’re glad to report they’ve done something pretty different.
24-year-old Gene Gallagher and his bandmates Ben Taylor (guitar), Jack Schiavo (bass), and Andrew Richmond (drums) haven’t just tried to do an impression of Oasis; instead, they’ve found their own sound, and while it does give somewhat of an old-school flavour, it’s not what we expected.
It takes literally milliseconds for you to click into realising the vibe they’re going for.
‘Hinge’ is a simplistic but hard-hitting, grungey and dark debut from Villanelle, who, despite having played a number of in-progress songs live over the last year or so, have only just dropped their first studio single.
In fact, they’ve actually taken the admittedly bizarre and unorthodox first steps of having already played live with Liam Gallagher on the Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary tour before they actually released anything people can easily listen to outside of their live performances.
Nevertheless, the young four-piece introduces Villanelle as the latest post-punk outfit amidst the ongoing revival of the classic rock genre.
That is to say that punk is a tried and true classic style of music, not that these lads are trying to sound like The Rolling Stones…
Anyway, we’re getting sidetracked: Villanelle draw plenty of influences from both original and contemporary examples of this sonic subculture, and while it isn’t explosive per se, ‘Hinge’ is short, direct and hits the same formulaic notes.
It’s also fair to say you can hear a bit of the recognisable LG whine in Gene’s vocals at times, too. Listen to it in full down below and see if you agree.
Even the basic found-footage style video fits into the same category.
To call it straightforward isn’t intended as any kind of a diss, by the way – some of our favourite tunes and best artists spearheading the renaissance of the punk scene write like this.
What we will say is that it looks like bloody good fun to both play and listen to in a small, sweaty room, with plenty of pits and people bouncing off the walls.
Gallagher Sr. might be surprised to see his son going for a slightly heavier, more hardcore route with his sound, but he can’t accuse him of forgetting his roots as the child of a ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Star.’
The boys are actually hitting the road this winter, including a date at The Castle Hotel in the Northern Quarter, if you fancy grabbing a ticket.
You can grab your tickets to see Villanelle on tour HERE, and in the meantime, let us know what you think of their debut track down in the comments.
Johnny Marr teases his work on upcoming Gorillaz album
Danny Jones
Legendary Manchester musician Johnny Marr has revealed he features on the new Gorillaz album, adding even more interest in the highly anticipated release.
The Mountain is the ninth studio LP from the musical collective led by Damon Albarn, which is set to drop in early 2026, more than three years on from their last album, Cracker Island.
Although the virtual band made up of several real-life creatives (though the ex-Blur frontman and artist, Jamie Hewlett, technically remain the only two consistent core members) hasn’t been away for too long, each new project brings a wave of excitement.
With that in mind, we have no shame in admitting we have even more interest in Gorillaz’s latest album now that we know Johnny Marr is attached to it.
I’m pleased to share that I appear on four tracks on the upcoming Gorillaz album The Mountain. It’s a privilege to be a part of this record along with so many great artists. #Gorillaz#JohnnyMarrpic.twitter.com/KXVZxgyGg9
In the new rundown of tunes already posted earlier this month, the former Smiths songwriter and lead guitarist features on four different songs on the new record. You can see it in full down below:
Gorrilaz – The Mountain tracklist
1. The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash) 2. The Moon Cave (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda and Black Thought) 3. The Happy Dictator (feat. Sparks) 4. The Hardest Thing (feat. Tony Allen) 5. Orange County (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar) 6. The God of Lying (feat. IDLES) 7. The Empty Dream Machine (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 8. The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof) 9. The Plastic Guru (feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 10. Delirium (feat. Mark E. Smith) 11. Damascus (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey) 12. The Shadowy Light (feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash, and Ayaan Ali Bangash) 13. Casablanca (feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr) 14. The Sweet Prince (feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 15. The Sad God (feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar)
As you can see, the 61-year-old appears for the first time on song seven, ‘The Empty Dream Machine’, as well as ‘The Plastic Guru’, ‘Casablanca’, and the penultimate track on the album, ‘The Sweet Prince’.
It’ll be interesting to see how he fits into the captivating soundscape already teased by the group, with Gorillaz having now shared ‘The Happy Dictator’ featuring art pop duo Sparks.
A strong and politically loaded start.
Marr – who only released his fourth batch of solo material, Fever Dream Pts 1-4, back in 2022 – has continued to craft and produce with countless other artists over the past few decades, sharing the studio with fellow icons such as Noel Gallagher, Billy Bragg, Talking Heads and many more.
He even helped create the score for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack with legendary composer Hans Zimmer.
That being said, we can only hope to hear some of his famous guitar tones sprinkled throughout this album, though it’s still unclear as to exactly how much input he had on The Mountain overall.
What we do know about the album is that it’s the first to be released via Albarn’s new record label KONG; it’s 15 tracks, and was largely made following extended recording sessions across India, with the likes of Ajay Prasanna, Omar Souleyman and Anoushka Shankar, joining IDLES, Jalen Ngonda and other collabs.
Perhaps most excitingly, the announcement of ‘Gorillaz no.9’ came alongside a series of tour dates, including one right here in Manchester. We can’t wait to see 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle ‘live’ in 0161.
Daisy Jackson -
24th May 2024 
