Ten: The Hits Tour was the sixth and final concert tour by British-Irish girl groupGirls Aloud, in support of the group's second greatest hits album, Ten. The tour was the group's first tour in four years, following a three-year hiatus. The tour ranked on Pollstar's annual "Top 100 Mid Year Worldwide Tours". It earned £7.8m from 20 shows.
Background
Following their Out of Control Tour in 2009, the group announced they would take a year long hiatus before returning for a new album in 2010. The plans never came to be. On 19 October 2012 the group held a press conference where they officially announced their reunion as well as plans to release a greatest hits album, Ten, in November followed by a tour early in 2013. The tour's first fourteen dates in the United Kingdom and Ireland were announced the same date. Due to popular demand, the band announced extra dates in London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester, Belfast and Dublin.
Critical reception
Kate Mossman of The Guardian wrote "Girls Aloud are still a formidable pop engine – 10 legs and a beat – with a natural sense of economy, which extends to their emotions on stage. Maybe if the farewells – such as they are – come from the less powerful members then they might be easier to go back on." Joanne Dorken said in her review for MTV "Girls Aloud's tour had it all – tears and emotions, mixed with glitter and sparkle, proving that these girls are definitely the leaders of the pack and know how to put on an impressive show." Diane Bourne wrote for the Manchester Evening News "Sadly, by the end, with group hugs and teary eyes from the girls, you get the sense that this tenth anniversary tour is a farewell, rather than a comeback. But with such palpable love from this audience, you certainly wouldn’t bet against their return again. Just don’t wait another ten girls..." Simon Gallagher from WhatCulture! wrote "If this is indeed the end, and the tearful goodbyes would suggest so, the world of pop will be missing one of its crown jewels. And while there are now some new girl groups on the block, there are very few out there, whether "manufactured" or otherwise, who can match Girls Aloud for their performance or the staging of their tours." Andre Paine wrote for The Evening Standard "Crucially, they also liked their fans and got up close to the crowd after being transported to the middle of the venue for a sequence including the bracing electropop tune "Call the Shots". "The Promise" was a rousing finale to a celebration of their first 10 years — a lifetime in pop, yet Girls Aloud looked like a group in their prime and hungry for hits." However, Josh Darvill of TellyMix gave the concert a mixed review stating "...it was, as we would've expected, pretty epic. Standing atop of a giant Girls Aloud logo, the group looked stunning as they went to perform some of their earliest singles, including "Life Got Cold". While a fun night, as big Girls Aloud fans, we couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed. Whether in a nod to past tours or simply due to laziness, various parts of the concert had been copied and pasted from performances past. "Sexy! No No No..."'s intro has been taken straight from the Tangled Up opening, while the group's "Love Machine" breakdown is a carbon copy of their Out of Control number, even down to the choreography. After three years of waiting, we can’t help but feeling a tad disappointed with what will no doubt prove to be the girls’ last ever concert together."
Broadcast and recordings
The shows in London on the 1 and 2 March 2013 were recorded for a DVD release. It was broadcast on MTV freeview channel Viva on Saturday 30 March 2013. The show was then repeated on MTV Music and MTV Live HD the following day. The broadcast omitted two songs, "Call Me Maybe" and "Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me". A DVD titled Ten – The Hits Tour featuring the full-length show except "Call Me Maybe" was released on 11 November 2013.
