Girls Aloud began their reunion tour in Dublin last night (May 17) with a setlist packed with their greatest hits – check out footage and the setlist below.
The show marked the first time the girl group have performed together for 10 years, as well as their first reunion since the death of bandmate Sarah Harding, who passed away in 2021 due to breast cancer.
Announced back in November, the initial run of fifteen dates sold out so fast, the band were ended up adding another fifteen shows.
The first show of their reunion tour featured numerous tributes to Harding throughout, including during ‘The Promise’, where she appeared on a video screen singing her solo. Meanwhile, their rendition of The Pretenders’ ‘I’ll Stand By You’ also featured audio of Harding’s vocals, with the remaining members of the group – Cheryl Tweedy, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh – singing backing vocals.
Check out footage of the show and the setlist below:
Cheryl and Nadine 😭💚 @GirlsAloud pic.twitter.com/GsJO2ruaUR
— Karen (@KazzyGA) May 18, 2024
Sarah ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #girlsaloud pic.twitter.com/XfbS7z9J8K
— HERR (@HERRTHEQUEEN) May 17, 2024
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
Recommended
girls aloud you will always be famous pic.twitter.com/7G322FYPnL
— ً (@heIIobritney) May 17, 2024
Pop perfection such a feelgood show @girlsaloud #girlsaloud pic.twitter.com/zhUa6dsgLH
— Alan Mulvey 🌻 (@al70) May 17, 2024
It’s like Girls Aloud have NEVER been apart.
Welcome back queens!❤️ @GirlsAloud#TheGirlsAloudShow pic.twitter.com/w2Z4L0r57i— KingSpears (@godkneebitch) May 17, 2024
Setlist:
‘Untouchable’
‘The Show’
‘Something New’
‘Love Machine’
‘Can’t Speak French’
‘Biology’
‘Whole Lotta History’
‘Wake Me Up’
‘Sound of the Underground’
‘Girl Overboard’
‘No Good Advice’
‘Graffiti My Soul’
‘Long Hot Summer’
‘I’ll Stand By You’
‘Sexy! No No No…’
‘On The Metro’
‘Jump’
‘Call The Shots’
‘Something Kinda Ooooh’
‘The Promise’
Girls Aloud previously said that fans would be “blown away” by the show, which they hoped would “transport” them back to their ’00s heyday.
“We want people to be transported back to the time through our music. We want people to sing their hearts out and dance their socks off,” Tweedy told The Independent.
“It’s the right time to celebrate Sarah, the right time to celebrate the band, and the right time to celebrate the fact we can still do this over 20 years later. That’s a big honour.”
“What do I want people to think when they see Girls Aloud? That we’re pop icons of our era who have always been fun and free.”
Walsh added that the love shown for Harding after her death as well as the whole band helped to reignite them. “It just felt too raw to begin with, but time does make a huge, huge difference. And now feels like the right moment to celebrate Sarah and the 20-year anniversary that we didn’t celebrate at the time.”
“If you’d asked me a year ago about the possibility of a Girls Aloud tour, I’d probably have said it wasn’t very likely,” she continued. “But our energies have all aligned at the same time, which is something you can’t predict. It just got to a point where we all looked at each other and thought: ‘This feels right.’
Meanwhile, the band surprise-released a megamix called ‘The Whole Damn Show’ to celebrate the beginning of the tour. It mashes up 27 Girls Aloud hits and fan favourites, mixed by The Alias, and will be released as an extremely limited 12” ultra clear vinyl on August 2 – you can pre-order yours here.
You can find the rest of the tour dates below and buy tickets here.
MAY
20 – Belfast SSE Arena
21 – Belfast SSE Arena
23 – Manchester AO Arena
24 – Manchester AO Arena
27 – Cardiff Utilita Arena
28 – Sheffield Utilita Arena
31 – Newcastle Utilita Arena
JUNE
1 – Newcastle Utilita Arena
2 – Newcastle Utilita Arena
4 – Aberdeen P&J Live
8 – Glasgow OVO Hydro
9 – Glasgow OVO Hydro
10 – Glasgow OVO Hydro
12 – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
13 – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
15 – Leeds First Direct Arena
16 – Leeds First Direct Arena
18 – Birmingham Resorts World Arena
19 – Birmingham Resorts World Arena
20 – Birmingham Resorts World Arena
22 – London The O2
23 – London The O2
24 – London The O2
25 – London The O2
27 – London The O2
29 – Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
30 – Liverpool M&S Bank Arena