Girls Aloud review

One of the most successful girl groups ventured back to Manchester for another sell out gig at the MEN Arena on Friday and they certainly lived up to their expectations.

Having been cultivated from a reality show you can be forgiven for being slightly worried when attending a gig like this, but reality rejects they ain't having notched up four number ones, two UK number one albums and 20 consecutive top ten singles. These four girls have literally worked their skinny behinds off for the last seven years and can now rarely disappoint.

The girls exploded on to the stage with 'The Promise', looking as glamorous as ever and the whole audience- ranging from teenagers, gay couples, straight couples, men and women- went wild. It just goes to show how Girls Aloud can appeal to all ages.

The costumes were stylish but left nothing to the imagination which is no surprise when these girls are involved. The designs took influences from the likes of Lady Ga Ga and Britney Spears, but remained subdued, not high end tacky.

The show-stopper came when the girls were transported above the heads of the audience to a middle stage which then gave people who were sat up in the Gods a better view as the show continued in the middle of the arena.

The girls’ set list comprised of most of the Out of Control album with one of the highlights being 'Revolution In The Head', a very catchy song which when released will be buzzing round the heads of all radio listeners. They also included the regular crowd pleasers such as 'Love Machine', 'Sound Of The Underground' and 'Call the Shots'.

The downside to the set list was that the girls felt the need to sing 'Broken Strings' by James Morrison and 'Womanizer' by Britney Spears. These are great tracks by the aforementioned artists but there is no need to do renditions of these songs when their own tracks such as 'The Show', 'Wake Me Up', 'Jump', 'No Good Advice', 'Can't Speak French' made for a much better medley at the end.

Overall there are few complaints about this show. The girls put on a jaw dropping performance which was definitely better than the Spice Girls. The added benefit with Girls Aloud is that they can hold a note, even in the acoustic devouring MEN Arena.