Sugababes: A no-frills trip down memory lane from the Noughties' coolest girl group
Nostalgia sells. It's why the Gallagher brothers are set to perform for more than two million revellers this summer, and it explains why Gen Z, quick as they are to badmouth millennials or boomers, can't get enough of Y2K fashion or Fleetwood Mac.
And it's because of this never-ending thrall to nostalgia that Sugababes – almost 30 years on since they were formed as teenagers, and following countless line-up changes – took to the stage at the O2 Arena on Thursday night. The gig followed a triumphant run of reunion shows in 2022 and a Glastonbury set that proved so in-demand last summer it shut down an entire stage. Of course, you can learn a lot about someone from their favourite girl group – All Saints equalled style, Little Mix or Girls Aloud gave away your average girls-next-door, and Atomic Kitten simply hinted at bad taste (or a propensity for Iceland frozen party food) – but Sugababes fans tended to be edgier, and more diverse. They were the Noughties' coolest girl group, hip and fresh, meaning their listeners were often made up of a mix of bubblegum pop-loving teenage girls and otherwise proud indie-music snobs.
The trio – again consisting of original members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Siobhán Donaghy – proved happy to take their drunken fans on a trip down memory lane. But there were caveats: fans were quickly reminded that, for every two or three bangers, there would be four or five later-career singles nobody really knew the words to. Opener Overload, their very first single from 2000, performed with the music video playing behind them, was a moving testament to their decades-long success and growth as artists, and women. More hits followed: the groovy, garage-influenced Hole in the Head and Red Dress; the introspective self-love ballad Ugly.
Yet after a promising start, the dreaded bar-and-loo exodus went on and on during the entire midsection of Sugababes' set. The plodding No Regrets and Flatline (the latter released under the name Mutya Keisha Siobhán, when the group were battling later members for the rights to the Sugababes name) were the first signals they had lost the crowd – with the songs not entirely to blame. The group have always been vocalists first, entertainers second, but in an arena as unforgiving as the O2 – massive, stark, cold – you need the bells and whistles: pyrotechnics, slick choreography, a raucous full band. Their tendency to just shuffle around the stage failed to hype up the audience in the moments they needed it most.
Luckily, the set's three final tracks clawed back attention: their surly, sexy cover of Adina Howard's Freak Like Me, which gave them their first UK Number 1 in 2002, was followed by interminable earworm Push the Button and, finally, pop-rock banger About You Now, also known as the go-to karaoke song for every woman born between 1993 and 2000 (guilty as charged). This tour is Sugababes' first in an exclusively arena setting, and while it wasn't a show to set the world alight, it served its purpose as a fun night out complete with some fun songs.
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