Chemistry: The Tour was the second concert tour by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud. It supported their third studio album, Chemistry. Following the success of 2005's What Will the Neighbours Say...? Tour, Girls Aloud performed in arenas across the United Kingdom for the first time. Girls Aloud announced tour dates in October 2005. They performed just ten dates, making it their shortest tour. The tour began in Nottingham on 22 May 2006 and concluded in London on 3 June 2006.
The show was divided into five sections with distinct costumes, including the encore. The set list featured songs mostly from Chemistry, but also included singles from Girls Aloud's first two albums and cover versions. Girls Aloud began the show by rising from underneath the stage to perform the opening number "Biology". The stage included video screens and a catwalk which extended into the audience.
Chemistry: The Tour received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics who praised Girls Aloud's energy and fun. The tour was a commercial success, leading to the announcement of another arena tour the following year. A recording of the show was released on DVD in November 2006, oddly titled Girls Aloud: Greatest Hits Live From Wembley Arena to coincide with the release of the group's first greatest hits collection The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits.
Background and development
The tour dates were announced towards the end of October 2005. Tickets went on sale on 4 November 2005, although pre-sale started two days earlier. The group did not tour in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, due to low record sales in Ireland. Girls Aloud also made their festival debut at 2006's V Festival.
Kimberley Walsh said the tour would be "bigger and better" than the What Will the Neighbours Say...? Tour, due to the size of the venues. "Everything will be in an arena so it gives us a bit more room to do some of the things we would have liked to have done last time." Girls Aloud also decided to take a more sexualised approach to the tour to make it "different" from their last. The stage included a catwalk which extended into the audience. There were two smaller video screens on the sides of the stage and a large one in the centre.
Concert synopsis
The tour begins with an introduction "evokes memories of Weird Science", as a mad scientist creates five women. The video screen shows data for each member appearing one by one, followed by a ten-second countdown. The countdown begins to malfunction as pyrotechnics occur on stage. Girls Aloud then rise from underneath the stage. The introduction was seen as a reference to Girls Aloud's reality show beginnings. The group wear red, white, and black outfits as they perform "Biology". For the following performance, Girls Aloud don white lab coats over their outfits as they perform "No Good Advice". Taking the theme of a laboratory, white sheet trolleys and shelves of potions and bottles are brought on stage. After a brief dance break, Cheryl Cole is put into a box. A red curtain is lifted around her and then dropped, revealing a missing Cole. She reappearsand the song finishes. "Waiting", an album track from Chemistry, then follows. A Pink Panther themed dance is performed, leading into "Love Machine". The performance incorporates a sample of Amerie's hit single "1 Thing".
The dancers perform a dance break as Girls Aloud change into scantily-clad summer outfits. Cheryl Cole returns first and joins the dancers, beginning to perform "Long Hot Summer" as the rest of the girls join her. There are benches on each side of the stage, which Girls Aloud use in their dance routine. They take to the benches to perform the ballad "Whole Lotta History". Girls Aloud are rejoined by their dancers to perform the Chemistry album track "Watch Me Go". They end the section with a cover of the Kaiser Chiefs' breakthrough single "I Predict a Riot". Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson was "upset" because Girls Aloud changed a lyric from "condom" to "bus stop."
After a video interlude, Girls Aloud return to the stage in showgirl costumes and perform "See the Day". This is followed by a performance of their debut single "Sound of the Underground", which sees them replace the original microphone stand choreography with chairs. Girls Aloud then perform a medley of songs from 1980s movie musicals. The songs within the medley are: "Fame", sung by Nadine Coyle and Cole; "Flashdance... What a Feeling", sung by Nicola Roberts and Walsh; and Footloose", sung by Sarah Harding.