Live Review: Little Mix – Friday 13th May 2016 – Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia
5 min read
As one of the leading forces in the currently spacious girl group genre these days, Little Mix have become a staple in pop music over the last few years since taking coveted yet usually fatal crown on the UK’s X Factor back in 2011. They are one of the most successful acts, and the first group, to take home the win in the shows history and the road since has been filled with its fair share of success.
The band released their latest and 3rd studio album, Get Weird at the end of last year, which has so far produced some of the groups most commercially successful and critically acclaimed singles including a duet with Jason Derulo on their recent ballad Secret Love Song, new single Hair, the puppy love drenched Motown stunner Love Me Like You and lead single and the groups 3rd UK number one, Black Magic. With a hefty repertoire completed by previous hits like debut album singles DNA, Wings and Change Your Life and sophomore record anthem, Salute, Little Mix have been able to deliver a solid set to fans around the world this year as they take to stages throughout Europe, Asia and Australasia on their Get Weird World Tour and the bands latest stop was at the newly renamed Qudos Bank Arena (formerly Allphones Arena) in Sydney last night.
Arriving to a venue that was dominated by teenage female fans – most donning brightly coloured and glow in the dark Little Mix embroidered bunny ears – the night got off to an energetic start as almost everyone in the venue was on their feet and showing off their dance moves to warm up tracks like Macarena and Taio Cruz’s Dynamite. By 9pm the lights had slowly started to dim and the crowds screams for the band had reached an ear-bleeding level as the dancers took their positions on stage and the silhouettes of Little Mix members Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock appeared atop an elevated platform to perform opening Get Weird album number, Grown.
Dressed in stylish coats as they performed the opening number, it wasn’t long before the groups backing dancers approached each member, tearing away their coats to reveal figure-hugging glittery black leotards with blue trimming as the band dove into second song Move and latest uptempo single, Hair.
Each of the girls showcased their vocal finesse throughout the show and while no one member necessarily outshone the others, Edwards was the obvious master of the mic; delivering some of the strongest parts of many of the hits performed during the set and getting the loudest response from the crowd when offering fans some of most impressive notes within several of the tracks dished up.
While the stage was modest; an elevated level with steps leading to the top and a brightly lit backdrop, the dance routines more than made up for any areas were expenses ran a little thin.
The outfit were non-stop and tight when it came to the steps that accompanied the hits; Nelson giving her performance that extra bit of oomph as she twisted and turned her gorgeously curvaceous figure and ran from side to side of the stage, encouraging fans to get up and dance whenever there was time to breath in the full throttle set. With the majority of the set throwing the most light on the bands uptempo numbers, they also showcased some of their finest slow-jams. A pitch-perfect and harmony driven performance of Secret Love Song stole the show and was the centre-piece of the set while the groups offering of the tender Salute album hit, Little Me saw the girls take a seat on the steps of their stage structure and belt out the sentimental ballad with some of the most flawless vocals of the night. Another highlight of the show came with the groups performance of recent Motown inspired gem, Love Me Like You with the bands soaring vocals flowing over fans who held lit up phones in the air and sang along with the British girl group from start to end.
As the ballads shone, the floor-fillers were out, dressed to the nines and ready to raise the roof off the Qudos Bank Arena with a dance-off segment adding to the fun of Weird People and, as Edwards described, “the song you’ve all been waiting for”, Black Magic which capped the night off in flawless fashion following the groups beautifully executed a capella performance of The End.
There were so many components to last nights Little Mix specatacle that came together so tightly and expertly to make it the fairly flawless show that it was. While there were no extravagent constume changes and although the stage design was pretty minimalist, you hardly noticed these things with so much going on around you; from the impeccable choreography and the on-point vocals through to the hits that came one after another – Little Mix proved they are the leading girl group in music right now. For an absolutely immaculate and solid set – we salute you!
Setlist:
Grown
Move
Hair
Change Your Life
Wings
Lightning
DNA
Secret Love Song, Pt. II
Jump On It / Crazy In Love / Where Are Ü Now / Fester Skank / Ring The Alarm
Salute
Little Me
How Ya Doin’?
Love Me Like You
Weird People
Encore:
The Beginning
The End
Black Magic
* photos by Robert Lee
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