The Sound Of The Underground is coming to Leeds.
It’s been 21 long years since Cheryl, Kimberley, Nadine, Nicola and Sarah won over the nation on Popstars: The Rivals, and whilst it’s been ten years since Girls Aloud last performed as a group, that’s all set to change in 2024…
If you’re a Girls Aloud fan, you might have spotted the hints across the girl’s social media accounts, beginning with Nadine Coyle sharing the number four on her account, Kimberly Walsh shared three a day later before Nicola and Cheryl shared the numbers two and on respectively.
The arena anniversary tour will honour bandmate Sarah Harding who sadly passed away in 2021.
The tour will “celebrate Sarah […] the band […] and the fact that we can still do this 21 years later” says founding member Cheryl Tweedy.
The 15-date tour will begin in Dublin in May 2024, finishing in Liverpool six weeks later with a stop in Leeds, a homecoming of sorts for Kimberly Walsh who grew up in Allerton, and two nights in the nearby city of Manchester, where Sarah Harding called home.
Entitled ‘The Girls Aloud Show’, the band have confirmed the tour will not feature any new music, but will instead “be a celebration of Girls Aloud’s rich back catalogue and all the ground-breaking success they have achieved as a band.”
Kimberley said: “Over the last year, we’ve felt this outpouring of love – obviously towards Sarah, but actually towards all of us as a group. And I guess it’s ignited something in all of us again. It feels like something has changed and it does feel like the right time to celebrate Sarah and the 20-year anniversary that we didn’t celebrate at the time.”
‘The Girls Aloud Show’ arena tour dates are as followed:
Saturday 18 May – 3Arena Dublin
Monday 20 May – SSE Arena Belfast
Thursday 23 May – Manchester AO Arena
Friday 24 May – Manchester AO Arena
Monday 27 May – Cardiff Utilita Arena
Friday 31 May – Newcastle Utilita Arena
Saturday 1 June – Newcastle Utilita Arena
Tuesday 4 June – Aberdeen P&J Live
Saturday 8 June – Glasgow OVO Hydro
Wednesday 12 June – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Saturday 15 June – Leeds First Direct Arena
Tuesday 18 June – Birmingham Resorts World Arena
Saturday 22 June – London The O2
Sunday 23 June – London The O2
Saturday 29 June – Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Cheryl says: “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.”
Nadine has 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.”
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Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 29 November from 9am, with the general on sale Friday 1 December at 9am, all via the Girls Aloud website.
Feature Image – Supplied
