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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Dominique Hines

Girls Aloud have triumphant O2 Arena closing night after slashing ticket prices to only £21

Girls Aloud managed to have a successful closing night of their five-gig stint at The O2 on Thursday with a near full arena.

This was after they slashed ticket prices up to 60 per cent when they initially failed to fill nearly half the arena’s seats.

The band had been forced to reduce ticket prices from over £100 to as low as £21.38, which resulted in a surge of sales over the past few days.

Maps of the O2 Arena had indicated that fans could choose almost any seat for the performances, despite the reduced cost.

One of last night's concertgoers told the Standard: "I'm not a huge fan, but I liked a few of their songs and I was interested to see their tribute to Sarah Harding, but I wasn't going to fork out £100 to see them. 

The group paid tribute to late band member Sarah Harding (fourth from left) (Getty Images)

"When I saw that I could get one for 30 quid I jumped on it. It looked like they manage to fill out most of the arena.”

Another attendee added: "It was a resounding success. The arena was packed.

"The only thing was that private VIP boxes weren't completely full, but that's because they're an extra expense."

The bandmates, Nadine Coyle, 40, Kimberley Walsh, 42, Nicola Roberts, 38, and Cheryl, 40, looked in their element as they performed their hits in front of a full crowd. 

The tour, their first without the late Sarah Harding, kicked off in Dublin in May and will now move on to Liverpool. 

Their reunion had also been long-encouraged by nostalgic fans and calls for a tour ramped up following the death of their bandmate Sarah Harding.

Taylor Swift performed her three London concerts at Wembley Stadium, during the Eras Tour to 90,000-strong crowds (PA Wire)

Harding passed away in September 2021 at the age of 39 after being diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer in 2020. 

The low interest before prices were slashed was in stark contrast to that of Taylor Swift's recent sold-out shows nearby.

The American pop-star performed in front of a 90,000-strong sold-out crowd at Wembley Stadium over the weekend where the likes of Hugh Grant, Tom Cruise and Phoebe Waller-Bridge rocked out to her famous hits. 

The band, who previously sold over four million albums in the UK and had multiple number one hits, have returned to the stage after being one of Britain’s biggest girl groups.

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