In the last month, I’ve been lucky enough to see Little Mix perform in an arena in Berlin and in a sports hall in Copenhagen. Yesterday I got the chance to see them in a completely different stadium sized venue known as Twickenham Stoop as part of their Summer Shout Out tour. These three shows have been memorable and magical in their own way. But Twickenham Summer Shout Out was something special and worthy of the review which is to follow.
For this show, Sheppard and Ella Eyre was enlisted as support acts. Australian based Shephard opened up the show with their indie pop sound and high octane performance. Whilst Ella Eyre brought the party to Twickenham bounding around stage performing tracks including Together and Waiting All Night. Between sets, we were surrounded by young children running around playing It in the sunshine and doing cartwheels showing off how a large percentage of the crowd was a younger audience with their willingness to please parents in tow.
As 8.15pm hit, the stage was set and as the opening sounds of Power kicked in all eyes turned from running around the grounds or drinking expensive drinks to the stage. When Jade, Leigh-Anne, Perrie and Jesy stepped onto the stage it was evident how special this first sight of their idols really was to those in the crowd. Taking centre stage, striking the power pose and throwing themselves into their 75-minute energy packed performance, this was going to be special. Little Mix were proving they have the power to dance in sync with each other whilst providing a vocally powerful performance and we’re only one song in!
I don’t want to ruin every part of the setlist for those who don’t know it or are heading to a show in the near future but here’s some parts which deserve honourable mentions. Salute since its release has been the ultimate girl power anthem and with such a lot of young girls in the audience tonight had even more importance. We and many others found ourselves saluting along to the track and singing back every word in unison. Spicing up the set however was the mash up of the ending of Salute into the beginning of Down & Dirty causing large cheers within the crowd at the seamless transition. Jesy took her chance to steal her own glory moment by kicking off the track with her singing a line followed by a replay of the line in an electronic sounding backing voice. Providing one of our favourite dance routines of the show, each detail was thought out during these dances to enable the girls to get their own moments yet also come together as a team to show off their strength in numbers. The gritty, cheeky lyrical content made temperatures soar when performed by the girls and Perrie’s high note here was held perfectly receiving a rapturous applause from the crowd.
Slowing the set down and giving a chance for those high notes the quartet have perfected is Your Love (Leigh-Anne we’re looking at you!) and Secret Love Song. Secret Love Song has become a part of the set I look forward to at each show as it becomes dedicated to a cause at each show. For instance in Berlin the show took place two days on from the heartbreaking Manchester attacks so became dedicated to all those who were killed or injured, in Copenhagen the girls filmed this track surrounded by rainbow colour flags within the audience. But in Twickenham Jade took the chance to inspire those in the audience to embrace who they are and not be ashamed to be themselves, personally I feel with such a young audience this was such an important message to make. Little Mix are examples of not following expectations people have of them unafraid to do, dress and behave how they want to instead of following the norms and sticking to a regimental character to make people happy. Watching the faces of the audience both young and old light up with joy throughout the show when the girls made the occasional dance slip up or pulled faces at each other across the stage showed how loveable and real Little Mix actually are.
Prior to Wings, Leigh-Anne told everyone with pride of this being their first ever single, their first number one single and the track which still to this day inspires them and many of their fans. Little Mix create simply feel good tracks which look to encourage and motivate those listening to them whether they’re sat at home in their rooms or in a stadium venue watching it performed live. With such an eager to get involved crowd from kids on their parent’s shoulders to hands clapping before even being asked it was a much-loved treat to see a whoosh of streamers soar from the front to back of the venue as kids chased after them to get their own LM souvenir.
Yes it might have been a Sunday night and yes many had work and school the next day but nobody was going to go home until one song was heard… Shout Out To My Ex. Closing the show and getting rid of every last bit of energy the track reached anthemic status with nobody (including the dads dragged along by daughters or partners) not dancing along to the number one hit. Whether six or sixty the song can be related to more circumstances than many think with a bit of thought, the little girls in the stadium may have lost friends along the way at school but as one was overheard ‘I don’t need care about it, I’m seeing Little Mix’ they were getting an experience to tell everyone about Monday at school. Before leaving the stage the girls took the time to thank Twickenham for being their loudest crowd and to wish us all safe journey’s home, it’s these little touches which really do bring you closer to this Brit award winning group.
Little Mix are a prime example of what can be achieved with hard work, great friends around you and belief in yourself. These attributes shone through during their live shows. From the perfectly choreographed routines and flawless harmonies to the proud parent looks when another member slays a note and being told how Wings continues to inspire them to this day. Personally I believe that these characteristics are keep to success in many walks of life as if you don’t believe in yourself it can make trying to achieve your best a true struggle but once you get there after the hard work to stay there you need a supportive set of friends around you. When Little Mix first took to The X Factor stage it seems unlikely that they’d think one day they’d be role models to a whole generation and inspiring them daily through their own journey. Just from watching within a crowd it’s clear how much these girls absolutely love performing onstage which makes it such a magical experience to witness. I can honestly say Little Mix are a band I’ll never get bored of seeing because each show shows a little bit more of their personalities and makes me fall in love even more. If you can get to a show on the Summer Shout Out Tour do not miss out!
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