Review from the Evening Standard / This Is London:
ight top 10 singles, a book, a reality show, a sold out tour, and not forgetting guest spots onHollyoaks and Ghost Hunting With… – the facts confirm that The Saturdays are the biggest girl group in the country today.
Yet at this energetic show, jolly and bright as it was, the feeling persisted that they are only at the top by default because Girls Aloud and the Sugababeshave stumbled, like a team winning a match because the opposition has played badly.
Rising from a hole in the floor in different coloured minidresses, Frankie, Mollie, Una, Vanessa and Michelle demonstrated impressive live singing voices and even more breathtaking mastery of illuminated staircases in heels that could induce altitude sickness.
They sat on the steps for the ballads, marched and pointed for the hyperactive ones (of which there were many), always returning to their little equidistant crosses of sticky tape. The robotic rhythm and shiny chorus of Up stood out as a cut above, as did the trancey synths of Work, but a Rihanna medley halfway through served only to underline the fact that someone else has better tunes.
The glaring outfits, grinning banter and balloons were all very kiddie friendly, until Puppet showed more menace, the girls dancing jerkily with strings attached to their wrists. The wronged woman roar of Karma was also bitter fun, especially their united cry of “Who the hell is she?”
One brand new song, the piano-led Turn Myself In, didn’t suggest huge progress for the next release, but as they shape up to have three albums and a mini-album behind them in less than three years, it’s hardly surprising. They’re doing remarkably well to stay on a conveyor belt that isn’t going to wait for them if they stop to take a