By Emily Hazell
X-Factor winners Little Mix, one of the biggest girl groups in the world, returned to Cardiff in October for two sold out shows at the Motorpoint Arena. Just hours before the gig, swarms of excited fans filled the city centre, all sporting their favourite Little Mix merchandise. Even before entering the venue the atmosphere outside was electric, with people singing lines from their favourite songs, and chatting excitedly about the evening’s events.
Once everyone was seated and the lights went down, the packed-out arena erupted into high-pitched screams, as everyone anticipated seeing Little Mix arrive. As the infamous opening bars of their hit song ‘Power’ began to play, the audience sang along at the top of their lungs to every word as all four girls, followed by their dance troupe, emerged onto the stage.
The setlist featured a variety of songs from all four of their albums, with hits such as ‘Wings’, ‘Black Magic’, ‘Salute’ and ‘Hair’ getting huge responses from the crowd. Interspersed between the hits was a selection of songs from their new album Glory Days, with the group explaining the stories behind certain tracks in between performances.
All four girls sang effortlessly despite performing intense routines with their dancers, all the while keeping up the energy of the crowd as they encouraged them to dance along. People of all ages were moving along to the music, even one dad in the front row whom Little Mix jokingly singled out during the show for not knowing the words to one of their songs.
The lively atmosphere that had been created was then slowed down halfway through the concert, as the girls reappeared from one of their costume changes wearing outfits decorated in feathers. A platform was raised above the crowd, which all four girls made their way across to perform a handful of their well-known ballads, including ‘Secret Love Song’ and ‘Your Love’. The energy was quickly restored as the audience was launched back into a series of dance-heavy tracks, with Little Mix ending their set on their latest collaboration with CNCO, ‘Reggaeton Lento’.
As the crowd began chanting ‘Little Mix, Little Mix’, eagerly awaiting the encore, the lights dimmed once again to reveal the girls emerge from below the stage, wearing knee-high sparkling silver boots and t-shirts with the phrase ‘Shout out to my Ex’. The crowd erupted into cheers and immediately began singing along with Perrie as she sung the opening lines to easily one of the most anticipated songs of the night. As the track ended and confetti rained down over the arena, the energy still buzzed with excitement from a night of show-stopping performances; Little Mix had once again proved why they are one of the biggest pop acts on the planet.
