Girls Aloud and proud of pop classics

Kicking off the Tangled Up tour, Britain's biggest pop band Girls Aloud looked like they may have been in danger of doing that themselves as they flew on to stage at the NIA in mid-air, all silver capes flowing.

But with nearly six years on the music scene, they effortlessly launched into their performance at Birmingham's NIA last night.

Kicking off with Sexy No No No, the girls, dressed in what can only be described as "sci-fi burlesque", treated fans to most of the current album but there were a few gems from the back catalogue to really get the crowd going.

There was an interesting blink-and-you'll miss it moment from Cheryl which seemed to be a reference to husband Ashley's infidelity – and, let's face it, the likeable gobby Geordie isn't one to mince her words.

Splicing reggae-infused Control Of The Knife with a quick insert from Kelis's Trick Me, with the lines "You might trick me once but I won't let you trick me twice" surely must have raised a few eyebrows at Cheryl's audacity. A sly nod perhaps but a pointer at how she is coping.

Elsewhere, there was reference to how far the girls have gone in their own lives, from Cheryl's hugely successful collaboration with Will.I.Am and Nicola's sell-out range of make-up for fair-skinned girls. "Our own little entrepreneur," bellowed Cheryl.

Then, somewhat appropriately, before launching into new album opener Call The Shots, the girls told how they flew out to LA to film their latest video because that's where Nadine's permanent base is, she having upped sticks to live with Desperate Housewives actor Jessie Metcalf.

So there were a few anecdotes between the tracks, but mostly it was a fun evening with lots of flesh on show, a giant platform lit up with lights where the girls changed scenery for a while, with a few of their classic pop songs, such as Sound Of The Underground and Biology, thrown in for good measure.

As far as pop goes, whether you love it or not, it doesn't really get much better than Girls Aloud.