Utilita Arena, Sheffield. Metro, April 22
For all the banging pop anthems, confetti cannons and writhing street dancers, it was a quiet interlude in Little Mix’s celebratory blast through their last decade which really struck home. As their soaring 2016 ballad Secret Love Song Part II reached its crescendo, Jade Thirlwall’s voice caught in the moment. She was emotional; the flashlight-waving crowd were emotional. Little Mix, you suggest, might miss all this as they go on extended hiatus.
From X Factor winners to girl band who refined the propulsive pop of Girls Aloud, you can certainly forgive Little Mix for reflecting on how far they’d come, how influential they’ve turned out to be. It’s telling that these days, a Little Mix show is more wholesome, empowered, inclusive entertainment for the primary school girls who still make up a lot of their audience.
The lack of live band made their shuddering, bass-heavy rhythms all the more striking; the breathless intensity of Move, Power, Heartbreak Anthem and Woman Like Me (complete with hair metal segue into En Vogue’s Free Your Mind) something to behold. It takes some confidence to break down one of your best songs, Black Magic, into a quasi dubstep remix, but that’s what Little Mix now are. Confident. And a trio.
“A lot has happened since we were last here,” teased Perrie Edwards. But the departed Jesy Nelson did not get a mention. Instead, Leigh-Anne Pinnock joked they’d become “proper milfs” since the birth of their children last year. It’s probably their only misstep.
“Ten years but it’s not over yet,” flashed across the big screens. Still, one wonders whether Little Mix will ever be able to match this valedictory show.
