Live Review: Little Mix – 25th November 2017 – O2 Arena, London, UK
3 min read
Little Mix know how to make an entrance. On 25 November, the UK chart-topping, X Factor-winning girl group whipped the London O2 Arena into a frenzy when they kicked off the second to last show on their Glory Days Tour. Opening with Power, the girls stormed the stage dressed in studded leather outfits supported by a gang of male back-up dancers and a curtain of pyrotechnic canons. Fronted by Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jesy Nelson, they barely stopped to rest during the roughly 90-minute set where they strutted and gyrated to some of the biggest hits from their four studio albums, much to the delight of their (mostly very young female) audience.
Keeping to their trademark style, the first and third acts were mostly heavily choreographed numbers, while the second act saw the girls walk on a large, suspended catwalk that was lowered from the ceiling. This gave the audience seated in the middle and back of the arena a much closer view for the middle of the show when the girls performed some of their most well-known ballads like Your Love, and Secret Love Song. It was a great change-up, demonstrating that behind the sparkly costumes and risqué dance numbers is a group comprised of equally talented vocalists.
Though fast-paced and entertaining, there were some missed opportunities. The graphics I felt were uninspiring, and most of the time was just a live video feed with a split, mirror-image. Other times it was pre-recorded videos of the band performing the current song. It was odd and distracting to see a group performing a song live on stage, while at the same time seeing a giant video the group recorded singing that song. Also, the first and third acts were too similar. They dressed in similar costumes both times, with similar graphics and lighting that had a black, white and red colour-scheme. Also, there were virtually no stage props used during the entire performance, leaving the large stage feeling strangely vacant.
Despite those minor flaws, Little Mix put on a great show that enthralled their young fanbase. They didn’t just look good, the sound quality was excellent throughout. The fans seemed to respond loudest to some of their biggest earlier hits like Wings and DNA, as well as Nothing Else Matters from Glory Days, a song that you can’t help sing along to. Though the show didn’t quite achieve the high-level production values of some of the other big tours this year, the groups determination and enthusiasm made up for it and the result was sweetly entertaining.
Setlist
Power
Black Magic
Private Show
Move
F.U.
No More Sad Songs
Your Love
Secret Love Song, Pt. II
Nothing Else Matters
Wings
Salute
Down & Dirty
DNA / Freak
Hair
Songs Game
Touch / Reggaetón Lento (Remix)
Encore
Shout Out to My Ex
::: Renowned For Sound Technical Director and Film Reviewer ::: Robert is an IT geek, movie fan and part-time movie reviewer/editor. Robert also looks after the ‘behind the scenes’ technical elements of Renowned For Sound.
