The Point is stuffed with row upon row of kids with glow sticks, light up bunny ears, pop corn and hassled-looking parents. They’re waiting for the Sugababes. And waiting. And waiting.
Panto season seems to have come early to Dublin this year. The Point is stuffed with row upon row of kids with glow sticks, light up bunny ears, pop corn and hassled-looking parents. They’re waiting for the Sugababes. And waiting. And waiting. One particularly miserable father even starts a slow hand-clap which spreads around the venue. For some, thoughts go back to that fateful night at the Olympia, for others thoughts turn to needing the toilet. The truth is probably a lot less dramatic – first night of a first headlining tour and nerves are fraught. Any worries are unfounded. This is the perfect environment for the Sugababes franchise.
The loss of a second original member has proved to be not such a problem, and while the departure of the spiky Mutya has made them a potentially less interesting proposition, it was never likely to provoke mass hysteria. So tonight is all about smiling, waving and pop music. It’s not a great spectacle – a few screens, fluorescent lights, half-arsed choreography and a muddy sound do not make a show – and the band themselves have still to prove themselves natural performers, even after all this time.
In contrast to most of these kind of events though, this is actually more about substance than style. The music, you see, is fantastic – a cavalcade of some of the finest pop tunes to come our way this decade. ‘Hole In The Head’, ‘Round Round’, ‘Too Lost In You’, ‘In The Middle’, the still remarkable ‘Overload’ – they just keep coming. ‘Stronger’ is accompanied by footage from their Comic Relief trip to Africa, and they use their costume change to show the Make Poverty History three-second click film. It may prove little more than an excuse for the kids to scream at anybody they recognise (Bob Geldolf yes, Damon Albarn no) but at least they’re trying.
The absence of their Arctic Monkeys cover is a disappointment, but they do provide the surreal sight of a huge number of under 10s jumping up and down to Primal Scream’s ‘Rocks’. By the time that familiar Gary Numan sample kicks into life to remind us just what a staggering comeback they pulled off in ‘Freak Like Me’, even slow hand-clap dad is up and swaying. The trio stand at the front of the stage, hair billowing in the manufactured wind, and you know that, while this will never be their natural home, for the seven-year-old girls in flashing bunny ears this was probably the greatest night of their lives… at least until Girls Aloud come to town.
Pic: Cathal Dawson
Doubtless enthused by the nice things that were said about their Overloaded album in the last issue of Hot Press, Sugababes have announced a visit to Dublin.
Read More When Jackie Hayden was enlisted to interview Sugababe Mutya Buena, little did he suspect that he would be loudly upstaged by another woman as he tries to get the lowdown on the Sugababes’ near break-up, Mutya’s concern over the sexing-up of their recent video, the effects of her pregnancy on her career and who ‘Push The Button’ was really about.
Read More Sugababes run of four increasingly impressive albums is something unheard of in the world of corporate pop and ‘Ugly’ is yet another gem of a single. Essentially taking the same stance as TLC’s ‘Unpretty’ a decade ago, it may deal in simple platitudes as to the nature of beauty and it’s depth, but this is a classy, catchy pop tune with a human heart. You won’t hear many of those over the next month.
Read More Sugababes run of four increasingly impressive albums is something unheard of in the world of corporate pop and ‘Ugly’ is yet another gem of a single. Essentially taking the same stance as TLC’s ‘Unpretty’ a decade ago, it may deal in simple platitudes as to the nature of beauty and it’s depth, but this is a classy, catchy pop tune with a human heart. You won’t hear many of those over the next month.
Read More Mutya Buena is the Sugababe the tabloids love to hate, an uncomfortable phenomenon the half-Irish half-Filipino star seems to take in her stride.
Read More The last minute cancellation by The Sugababes at Dublin's Olympia Theatre on Saturday night was due to 'illness' according to promoters MCD and NOT as alleged by the Daily Mirror by "an almighty catfight backstage".
Read More The poptastic Sugababes will be entertaining the masses in March next year
Read More Not perfect by any means but certainly far more consistent than its patchy predecessor
Read More Not perfect by any means but certainly far more consistent than its patchy predecessor
Read More
Although still in their teens, the career of English popsters the Sugababes has been more eventful than most bands twice their age. Co-founder Mutya Buena tells us how they pulled through the dark times and why she’s pleasantly shocked at the NME’s coverage of the band
Read More It's maybe no real shock that 'Freak Like Me' dominates Angels With Dirty Faces. What is more surprising is that the album falls so far short of matching its undoubted highpoint
Read More Pop will redeem itself: Sugababes co-headline the Smash Hits tour in the Point
Read More The three 16 year-old girls who met at a party a couple of years ago have become one of the UK’s brighest MOBO hopes, as evidenced by their smash hit ‘Overload’.
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