FEATURE:
The Show, The Promise
PHOTO CREDIT: Fascination Management
The Touring Reformation of Girls Aloud, and a Growing and Glowing Nostalgia Trend
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A huge announcement was made…
this week. There has been much speculation as to whether Girls Aloud would be reforming to tour or record a new song/album. Teaser posts had been put out in the days leading up to the announcement. It has been confirmed that the group are touring next year. Honouring their late member Sarah Harding, they are back on the road and will be taking their incredible back catalogue around the nation. It is going to be a massive event. Another legendary group who are back on the road and unexpectedly reformed and entering this new phase. I am not sure whether there will be new music or this tour will lead to a continued work and live performance. A lot of people have reacted to the news. I think that it is great that a lot of groups and artists who many thought might not record or tour are now back on the road. Plenty of legends still going strong. It is a chance for young fans to see the quartet on stage. Hear those iconic songs brought to life. I am going to write more about nostalgia and how, especially now, many are embracing groups turning back time – but also looking forward and reaching new corners. Rolling Stone were among those who revealed great news for fans of Girls Aloud:
“The band – Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Kimberly Walsh and Roberts – will now join forces for an arena tour next year that celebrates their chart-topping music. The group will also pay tribute to former bandmate Sarah Harding, who passed away from breast cancer in 2021.
Cheryl said of the reunion: “We all started talking about the possibility of doing something to celebrate Girls Aloud’s 20-year anniversary a few years ago. The anniversary seemed like an obvious thing that we would celebrate. But when Sarah fell ill all priorities changed. She passed away a year before the anniversary and it just didn’t feel right, it felt too soon. But now, I think there is an energy that does makes it feel right. It’s the right time to celebrate Sarah, it’s the right time to celebrate the band and the right time to celebrate the fact we can still do this 21 years later. That’s a big honour in lots of ways.”
Tickets will go on pre-sale on Wednesday November 29 at 9am, with a general sale taking place from Friday December 1 at 9am. The tour will take place across May and June 2024.
Coyle added: “Girls Aloud are a band that made such a huge impact on people’s lives. We grew up with the band, but so did so many other people. So for us not to do something again feels like such a shame and a waste. We want to have that moment with fans where we can all enjoy it together.”
However, the group also denied reports that new music was on the way, stating that the tour will be a one-off affair. Still, fans believe a Glastonbury performance could be on the cards after noticing a gap in their diary at the end of June next year.
‘The Girls Aloud Show’ arena tour dates:
MAY
18 – Dublin 3Arena
20 – Belfast SSE Arena
23 – Manchester AO Arena
24 – Manchester AO Arena
27 – Cardiff Utilita Arena
31 – Newcastle Utilita Arena
JUNE
1 – Newcastle Utilita Arena
4 – Aberdeen P&J Live
8 – Glasgow OVO Hydro
12 – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
15 – Leeds First Direct Arena
18 – Birmingham Resorts World Arena
22 – London The O2
23 – London The O2
29 – Liverpool M&S Bank Arena”.
Girls Aloud are back on the campaign trail. They dropped into see Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2 yesterday (22nd). They are going to be doing a lot of interviews before their first date. I wonder whether they will record new music. It is amazing to think that their fifth and final album, Out of Control, is fifteen this month. A group maybe cut a bit short, if they did record new music, it would perhaps have a slightly different vibe. I also wonder, as Sarah Harding died, whether they feel it is right to continue without her. Other groups have toured without an original member before – including Spice Girls and Take That -, though this is something different. It would be good to hear new Girls Aloud material. The tour will definitely show that they have a huge and loyal fanbase. A decade after they disbanded, there is this new flame and objective. Vogue spoke with the group given the announcement of new dates. It is an emotional and exciting time for them:
“The official line is that Girls Aloud disbanded in 2013 so that its members could pursue solo projects. But rumours that interpersonal jealousies had led to a breakdown in communication remain a source of tabloid speculation. “At this age,” Cheryl says, “you gain perspective and you stop caring about all the stupid stuff that would drive you crazy in your twenties. I’ve never felt more comfortable in my skin.” It’s a hard-won resilience born from Girls Aloud’s unique engineering: voted into superstardom by 213,000 Brits when they were still teenagers. Nicola was just 16. It means the past decade – and all their extreme highs and earth-shattering lows – have been meticulously documented for public consumption. In 2021, the band tragically lost Sarah Harding – the sweet and spontaneous rockstar of the group – to breast cancer aged just 39. The rest of Girls Aloud found themselves reunited not as colleagues, but sisters.
A self-described “loon” – who once grabbed the mic at the 2009 Brit Awards and unleashed a blistering, “It’s about time!” when Girls Aloud won Best British Single – the absence of Sarah’s wit and candour does not go unnoticed. “It’s hard to talk about it,” says Nicola. “It’s hard for us to be here without her. It was our 20th anniversary last year but we were in no emotional shape to even contemplate celebrating it at the time. Everything went out the window when we learnt about her diagnosis. We just needed to be there for her and support her as much as we could.” In her final months, Cheryl would invite Sarah to stay at her Surrey home. “She turned to me once and said, ‘You know when I’m not here, you girls should do something.’ But when you’re face to face with someone that’s dying… We just thought some miracle was going to occur. We all thought we might be able to do something together,” she explains.
“It’s not easy,” Nicola says, her voice beginning to tremble. “Sarah’s always going to be such a massive part of Girls Aloud,” Kimberley continues, in a reassuring tone. “I think we channelled our grief into all the fundraising we did for The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal and that helped us a lot. And as tough as it will be, we want to give Sarah her moment on this tour. We need it. The fans need it. She needs it.” The group will not be recording any new music. “We couldn’t,” Cheryl says, “because Sarah wouldn’t be included in that newness. This is about celebrating the 20 years we’ve all had. So the tour has got to be inclusive of Sarah because she’s such a massive part of our make-up. It will never feel like the old Girls Aloud again but we’ve reached a point where we feel ready to celebrate all of it. Sarah included.”
It helps, then, that Girls Aloud’s Xenomania-crafted hits feel just as current now as they did in the 2000s. “It’s because our songs never fit into a trend,” Nicola says. “It wasn’t like ’90s pop. We’ve always had our own vibe and sound so it aged well.” Their best songs – “Sound Of The Underground” and “Call The Shots” and “Untouchable” (to name just a small selection of what Cheryl refers to as their “modern art” masterpieces) – are a full-scale collision of genres sutured together with head-thrashing choruses. T
This might spare Girls Aloud from enduring the same fate as other reunions: ie, a “Love Of Huns” cheese-fest. Which is something Cheryl – who once sniffed at the idea of a reunion in a now-viral TikTok – knows all too well. “I called her out on this the other day!” Kimberley says. “Because she was speaking about us being 30 and I’ve just turned 42!” Cheryl interrupts: “You have to imagine that I was 21 years old at the time and 30 felt so old and cringe. I was singing ‘Love Machine’ every day and I was probably sick to death of it.”
I wonder what a 21-year-old Cheryl might think about her 40-year-old self’s latest acquisition: “I’ve recently converted and accepted – shut up – Crocs. Someone brought us them and I thought, ‘Lord’, and then I put them on and they’re like walking on air. I wouldn’t wear them outside yet, mind.” It’s a sea-change from the “spingle spangle sparkle” of Girls Aloud’s Y2K wardrobe, which countless pop stars seem to be paying homage to in 2023. See: Dua Lipa’s red hair (which is surely a throwback to Cheryl’s “And no ammonia!” L'Oréal adverts) and PinkPantheress’s personal mood board, which features a screenshot of Girls Aloud at the 2005 Capital FM Awards in strappy camis and flared jeans. “I know exactly the photo you’re on about! The brown skirt and the big chunky belt?” Nicola chimes in: “Oh my god, did I have a big gypsy skirt on? I think we must have dressed ourselves that day.”
To set another rumour to rest: will Girls Aloud be headlining this year’s Glastonbury line-up? “We’ve spoken about this but the thing is, we’d have to take our stage and so the logistics would be hard,” Nadine says. “But we are touring at the same time so maybe we could get a jet in.” The band’s publicist offers a more realistic response: “Um, they’ve not actually asked yet, girls, and you’re already talking about the logistics of how it would work?” Nicola ignores this. “We’ll obviously come up with some spectacular opening,” she says. “But all my ideas cost billions of pounds, which is the problem.” At this point – and much to my chagrin when listening back to the recording of this interview – I start brainstorming potential entrances. Perhaps the girls should ride onto the stage on a fleet of custom motorcycles? Perhaps their bodies should be oil-slicked and their hair wet and wild and windswept? “Listen, I wasn’t asking for creative direction,” Cheryl replies. “But I guess it’s subjective.”
And so I politely inform Cheryl that I want to see a Renaissance-sized spectacle taking place on this tour. “So do I! So do f***ing I,” she says. “And all the costume changes, too. It just has to be fabulous and twinkly! And if the Mighty Hoopla crowd wanna join? Come in. We need all of them,” she adds. “You know, I think it’s a beautiful thing to do at this age. To be able to do what we love the most – in this frame of mind – is going to make it such a better experience.” Of course, Cheryl, Kimberley and Nadine have all become mums in the past ten years. Will that involve a hard launch of their children on stage, Spice Girls-style? “The problem is that I want Bear to have a normal childhood,” says Cheryl of her own little boy. “I don’t want people recognising him on the street. But he’s twigged that I’m famous. The other day he said, ‘How lucky am I to have famous parents?’ I said, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ He goes: ‘Yeah. But it’s pretty cool.’”
“It is, though,” Nadine says. “Cheryl, you thought your life would be over at 30, but look at us still being able to do the same things we did at 17. That’s going to be so inspiring to so many people!” Nicola – who was often the target of the tabloid’s malign and misogynistic rule during the ’00s – agrees. “Women are so scared of getting ‘old’ because of ageism. It’s a massive, massive thing. So it’ll be freeing to go out there and not have to adhere to those pressures.” “For the first time I feel excitement without pressure,” says Cheryl. “Like, If 20 years later you still haven’t figured us out? That’s fine! Don’t come. We’ll close the doors. Because we just wanna entertain. It’s not like we’re saving lives here.” To which Nicola replies: “Actually some people have said we did save their lives.” “Well,” Cheryl concludes. “What I mean is, it’s just gonna be a massive party, because we all wanna have fun.”
And in the words of the late, great Sarah Harding: it’s about time”.
That thing that was said about women feeling pressure because of their age. Ageism still rife in the music industry. It is, instead, going to be a celebration and hugely important return from Girls Aloud. Honouring Sarah Harding and keeping her spirit alive, there is some nostalgia in the mix. Giving fans those older hits in a new setting. It is not a shock that there is nostalgia in the air. Many new artists are looking to the past. This year has been one where there are quite as few legacy acts getting back together. S Club sadly lost Paul Cattermole earlier this year. Blur are still going and seem to have gained this new connection and brotherhood. Their new album, this year’s The Ballad of Darren, is among their very best. Pulp are back on the road. Suede are touring with the Manic Street Preachers soon. Sugababes are also reformed and touring. I am going to come back to Girls Aloud and a reunion and step back to the past that has a different a relevance and promise. Something that is not the case with many other groups reforming and touring again. There is reformation and nostalgia this year. VICE asked why there is this growing trend of groups coming together once more:
“Nostalgia: It’s a hell of a drug, and the 2023 gig calendar is packed with reunion tours that show it’s more potent than ever. This summer will see Blur, Pulp, The Walkmen, Le Tigre and, er, Busted among others play huge shows and headline festivals. In 2022, we saw shows by the likes of Rage Against the Machine, Genesis, Blink 182, Pavement, Mötley Crüe and ABBA (well, kind of). Now the big Gallagher PR machine is cranking out Oasis reunion rumours, too. It’s been happening for a while, but it certainly feels like every single band from the 90s and 00s is doing it right now.
Is that true? Or is our view distorted simply because these comeback stories generate headlines from journalists wanting to relive their youth? I spoke to people across the industry – bands, PRs, festivals and venues – to see why we’re seeing these spate of reunions, how they come about and how the reunion has evolved beyond the idea of mere nostalgia.
The reunion gig was once the most derided of shows. We expected bands to split up amid a maelstrom of drugs, fame, relationships and the ever-cited “creative differences” and then stay split up. It means there’s always been cynicism around them: one last pay packet for waning “heritage” acts who were past it, an open and frank admission that they were all out of ideas. This industrialised nostalgia was the antithesis of what the best music was always about: the thrill of the new.
But now, in the words of one of those bands playing this summer, something changed. If the past few years have proven anything, it's that break-ups are rarely permanent. The truth is music is a fleeting and momentary thing: Bands break up, sometimes with dignity, sometimes in disgrace, then they get back together. That’s what happens.
“For a lot of bands when they've been together for years and years, they just get to a point where they can't stand being in the same room as each other, or they just feel like they've reached the end of the road,” says Duncan Jordan, widely recognised as one of the UK's leading independent music PRs and now working on The Walkmen’s comeback tour. They need a break basically – and for a lot of bands splitting up provides that break.”
The lifecycle of a band is different now. People accept that this is what happens: Why put a full stop on something, when a semi-colon will do? Just look at Blur: They didn’t even really split again after they played Hyde Park in 2015. It makes sense that bands play the "indefinite hiatus" card – an indeterminate period of time away before they get back together to great fanfare.
All this means comeback shows are a core part of the music scene and a band’s narrative. As Jordan puts it: “I think there’s perhaps a certain cynicism among some people, but for most people now, it's just like, yeah, bands get back together, that’s what happens.”
So are the likes of Blur and Pulp adding to their legends or tarnishing their legacy? “There has never been a society in human history so obsessed with the cultural artefacts of its own immediate past,” wrote Simon Reynolds in his book Retromania. For Taffe, nostalgia is a dangerous game, a sign of treading water – “a bit like my parents’ generation, where they are like ‘oh it’s not like the 60s or 70s anymore’,” he says. “For me, the musical landscape will always be about discovery. I feel that way with End of The Road’s audience too, if I lose that passion then what’s the point?”
Of course, no one wants to live in the past. And these comebacks can end terribly badly – even in a brawl, if you’re The View. But when I was at Blur’s warm-up show in Newcastle in May, it was one of the best times I’ve ever seen the band play. It felt vital and joyous: a performance that crackled with warmth and energy and, in the small, sweaty room, the band’s friendship felt palpable. New songs rubbed shoulders with songs from Parklife. The crowd was a mix of fans who were there in the 90s and teenagers dancing and singing along to every word. It showed that reunions can both nod back to the past and look to the future. As Damon sings on “To The End”, it looks like we might have made it".
The Charlatans are another band who are touring again. With many asking whether Spice Girls will go on the road again, I think one of the most extraordinary pieces of news is Girls Aloud announcing a new tour. Rather it simply being a chance to revel in nostalgia and mark twenty years since their debut album, Sound of the Underground, was released, it is almost a dying wish from Sarah Harding. Her wanting the group to get together and carry on. I am not sure how many groups could ever say this. It is almost a promise being fulfilled. Honouring their friend. Harding was a crucial part of Girls Aloud - and so her absence will be noticeable and heartbreaking. Even so, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Cheryl Cole will hold her with them and, no doubt, do her proud. Who knows what next year will offer in terms of musical treats and surprises. At such a miserable and frightening time for us all, it is a great comfort that groups we thought may not come back to us are emerging into a new phase and we get to hear the hits once more. If their last album, Out of Control, might have pointed to a future break or end of their run, it seems that they are now very much…
BACK in control.