Festival Hall was crowded with 90s kids on Friday the 3rd of January as princesses of Britpop, the almighty Sugababes, touched down in Melbourne for the first date of their 2025 Australian Tour, with support from local acts Jimi The Kween and Blusher.
If you’re unfamiliar with Sugababes (to which I say “huh, how?”) the vocal trio was formed in 1998 by young teens Mutya Buena, Siobhán Donaghy and Keisha Buchanan. They rocketed to stardom with singles ‘Overload’ and ‘Run for Cover’ before Donaghy left the group and was replaced with Heidi Range of Atomic Kitten fame.
The group went on to release more hits including ‘Round Round’ and ‘Hole in the Head’ before fans were rocked with news of yet another lineup change. By 2009, the original trio was no more but fans were treated to a revival when, in 2012, Buchanan, Donaghy and Buena announced that they’d buried their respective hatchets and were getting back together.
Now embarking on a world tour, the original Sugababes are in fine form to entertain with support from two local acts, multi-hyphenate entertainer Jimi The Kween and up-and-coming Melbourne trio Blusher. Jimi The Kween, most known for their residency on the festival circuit as a Poof Doof DJ and contestant on the 2020 Australian season of The Voice, opened the night with a dance-pop set that ushered patrons into the venue and set the tone perfectly. Dressed in a vibrant purple outfit, Jimi The Kween absolutely rocked the decks and even blessed the venue with a 2nd set of disco hits before Sugababes took the stage.
In between Jimi The Kween’s sets, Melbourne pop trio Blusher hit the stage for what they called their “biggest room ever played”. Formed in 2021 by friends Lauren Coutts, Jade Invarson-Favretto and Miranda Ward, Blusher was born from the sounds of late-night raves and living room dance parties with heavy synths, vocal distortions and lyrics that celebrate the beauty and complexity of girlhood. Incorporating light choreography, bubble guns and a megaphone into their hyper-femme music, Blusher made quite an impression on the Melbourne crowd.
For the main event, Sugababes were accompanied by a live band. Dressed in street-inspired outfits, Buena, Donaghy and Buchanan strutted onto the Melbourne stage and hit the ground running with ‘Hole in the Head’, ‘Red Dress’, ‘Ugly’ and ‘Too Lost in You’. Despite an early fumble from Buena as she opened with ‘Flatline’, all three of the Sugababes performed beautifully, producing delicious harmonies and showing off their individual ranges.
In particular, Buchanan impressed the Melbourne audience with her powerful and soulful voice, performing many of the adlibs in Sugarbabes’ music to incredible effect. Running through songs from across their discography, including singles released under their Mutya Keisha Siobhán moniker, the whole Melbourne crowd could be seen and heard happily singing and dancing along with the supergroup.
Unfortunately, sometimes a show is not without its issues. Personally, I am never a fan of live rock band accompaniment for vocal groups as I find that they tend to overpower the vocalists. Sadly, the Sugababes’ band was no exception. The sheer volume of the drums and guitars completely drowned the girls out whenever they dropped into their lower registers, making it hard to discern their voices and lyrics, even from within the mosh pit. The band also used Jimi The Kween’s second set as their warm-up time, interrupting the DJ by testing their mics and tuning their instruments. Considering Jimi The Kween was there to perform, I found this to be incredibly disrespectful.
Issues with the band and Buena’s ‘Flatline’ false start aside, the Sugababes provided a fun time for all in attendance and their support acts were incredibly enjoyable. The trio seemed to be genuinely thrilled to be together again, touring the world and greeting their Australian fans. Encouraging the Melbourne crowd to sing with them, cheer as loud as they could, and stand up in their seats, the atmosphere felt intimate and the Melbourne audience definitely rose to the occasion. The Sugababes made a point to talk about their past and to thank their fans for sticking by them through it all. After seeing them perform, I’ll be watching with keen interest to see where this new stage of the Sugababes’ storied career takes them.
As a millennial-aged woman, I have always been consciously aware of Sugababes. When ‘Round Round’ was released in 2002, I was just a chubby-faced 9-year-old who was immediately infatuated with their pop sound. Admittedly, I had no idea that their line up had gone through so many changes over the years. They were just one of those groups for me that would randomly pop into your head and make you say, “Hey, remember the Sugababes?” to whoever was near. While I was far from a diehard fan, I had enough peripheral knowledge of their charted singles to comfortably attend their show and honestly, I had a great time!
When they reached their encore, and I was able to hear ‘Round Round’ and ‘Push the Button’ live for the first time, I realised that the Sugarbabes and their music had made a much bigger impact on my tween years than originally thought.
Proudly presented by Untitled Group, the Sugarbabes toured Australia as part of the 2025 Australian Tour and performed in Melbourne at Festival Hall on Friday the 3rd of January. The tour then headed to Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on the 4th before concluding in Brisbane at Fortitude Music Hall on January 5th.
For more information, visit:
https://www.untitledgroup.com.au/tours/sugababes—australia-tour-2025
https://sugababes.komi.io
https://www.instagram.com/sugababes
Photography supplied by Untitled Group.
