CityLife Rating
Girls Aloud: The Out of Control Tour
WITH five fabulous costume changes and a frenetic string of hits, Girls Aloud choose Manchester to debut the energetic spectacular which is their Out Of Control tour.
They emerge on pedestals ascending from beneath the stage, dressed as shimmering angels, and progress through a series of outfits which suggest that they are anything but.
"To start in my home town, it's a real honour and I'm struggling to hold it together," decrees Sarah Harding, suggesting a bout of opening night nerves.
Yet the evidence of my eyes says something different - they sing, dance, smile and wave as though they each have an extra set of lungs and a monopoly on confidence.
Incredible show
Make no mistake, this is an incredible show from a group of girls who only a few years ago were plucked from obscurity by a pop reality TV show.
If they were amateurs then they've certainly earned their craft since - every dance move is timed and executed to perfection and pretty much every high point hit.
The opening number is Promise - arguably the biggest single of the last year - and they then bounce enthusiastically through the many crowd pleasers among the rest of their repertoire.
Each can sing, but Nadine Coyle does the lion's share of the most demanding vocal work, particularly when it comes to the opening moments of Biology.
Fans' favourite
There's affection for every member, but X Factor judge Cheryl Cole is clearly the fans' favourite.
At one point the girls are lifted up over the heads of the audience and carried to the centre of the auditorium, singing all the time.
The move is soundtracked by the song Untouchable, even if they are only just that at the altitude at which they travel.
They appear not to have notion of the feminist mantras as they pole dance their way through one number, but then follow it up by becoming puppet masters to five burly "man-droid" dancers.
Wardrobe malfunction
This being the first night of the tour we can forgive anything that doesn't appear to go according to plan, but there are no big problems.
Nadine suffers what might be a wardrobe malfunction at one point but there's so much flesh on display that it's hard to assess the extent of the disaster.
It ends with a medley of anything which might have been missed out during the main part of the show.
Be they a guilty pleasure or the soundtrack to the celebration of being a woman, Girls Aloud are well worth the price of a ticket.
Girls Aloud are back for three nights at the MEN Arena in May.
Reviewed: Sat, 25 April, 2009
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