At first, when I heard the news of the Sugababes reunion, I thought of the Netflix series. Girls5EvaIn this comedy series, four former girl group members work to get back together after a famous rapper samples their hit song and stirs up old memories. The ladies rush to reunite with a fervent devotion. There’s just one problem: No one is waiting for their reunion. After a long period of denial, the series ends—spoiler alert—with a concert in an empty arena.
Photographed by Arnd Jan Hermsen
When you ask British music fans which broken-up band they hope will reunite, they say Oasis. Nobody says Sugababes. But now that the girl group’s comeback is complete, the world is cheering them on. Glastonbury is over and in the Lowlands, the Alpha District is full of people who finally want to see Mutya, Kesha and Siobhan again.
Although… who is this Siobhan anyway? Isn’t it Heidi Ring (the blonde one, because that’s what it was like in the 90s: we categorized girl group members as if they were Powerpuff Girls) who had big hits with Mutya and Kesha. Wasn’t that shortly after the first Sugababes, which Siobhan was a part of, had flopped, after which Siobhan left the group and their recording contract was cancelled?
Anyway, it doesn’t matter at all. All the drama surrounding the girl group is in the past. What matters today is that the Sugababes perform well, demonstrating the value of their unwanted comeback. And damn, they do!
For an hour, Mutya, Kesha and Siobhan passionately play their greatest hits from The Teardropper. so lost in you To Mughar Stranger like meMaybe the current one has it. 90s revival I did something in my mind, but in reality the words just seem a bit old sometimes. Although the phrase “I’d sell my ass before I could think of you” is allowed hole in the head Maybe today too.
The British trio have matured and taken themselves seriously, so the performance never feels like a girl band reunion for old fans who once stood screaming behind the fences. The ladies sing straight, clearly and well, with minimal over-the-top riffs but also a fair number of risky outbursts, and they do their synchronised dance moves well, with a great band playing behind them. The many hits flow seamlessly into each other and seem to have stood the test of time.
In short, the return of Mutya, Kesha and Siobhan doesn’t just make for an unexpectedly great festival show; what the Sugababes are putting on also does something to how we view commercial pop music from the 90s and 00s. Clearly, it wasn’t all that bad after all.
visual: Lowlands 2024, Saturday (4pm) in Alpha Zone.