Initially, when I heard the news of a Sugababes reunion, I thought of the Netflix series Girls5Eva. In this sitcom, four women who were once in a girl group work on a comeback after a popular rapper samples one of their hits, which stirs up old memories. The ladies throw themselves into their reunion with great dedication. There’s just one problem: no one is waiting for that comeback. After a long period of denial, the series ends – spoiler alert – with a concert in an empty arena.
Photography Arend Jan Hermsen
When you ask British music fans which imploded band they hope will get back together, they say Oasis. No one says Sugababes. But now that the girl group’s comeback is complete, the whole world is warming up to them. Glastonbury was a hit and at Lowlands, the Alpha area is packed with people who want to see Mutya, Keisha and Siobhán again.
Although… who is this Siobhán anyway? Wasn’t it Heidi Range (the blonde one, because that’s how it was in the nineties: we categorized girl band members as if they were Powerpuff Girls) who scored big hits together with Mutya and Keisha. And didn’t that happen shortly after the debut of the first version of the Sugababes, which Siobhán was part of, flopped, after which Sióbhan left the band and a record deal was cancelled?
Anyway, none of that matters. All the drama surrounding the girl group is in the past. What matters now is that the Sugababes put on a good performance, proving that their unsolicited comeback is worth it. And damn, they do!
For an hour, Mutya, Keisha and Siobhán enthusiastically play their greatest hits, from the tearjerker Too Lost In You to the seductive Freak Like Me. Maybe the current nineties revival has done something to my brain, but actually only the lyrics sometimes sound a bit dated. Although ‘I’d sell my ass before I think of you’ from Hole In The Head might be a good idea today.
The British trio has grown up and takes itself seriously, so that the performance never feels like a girl band reunion for old fans who once stood screaming behind fences. The ladies sing live, in tune and well, with minimal exaggerated ad-libs but also quite a few risky outbursts, they dose their synchronized dances well and there is a great band playing behind them. The many hits flow seamlessly into each other and appear to have stood the test of time well.
In short, the comeback of Mutya, Keisha and Siobhán not only leads to an unexpectedly cool festival show; what the Sugababes show also does something to how we look at the commercial pop music of the nineties and noughties. Apparently it wasn’t all that bad after all.
Seen: Lowlands 2024, Saturday (4pm) in the Alpha.
