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REVIEW: Little Mix deliver pop perfection at Newmarket Racecourse
Little Mix take to the stage at Newmarket Nights Picture: JOHN HOY - Credit: Archant
Thousands of smartly-dressed adults, children and families packed Newmarket Racecourse to watch X Factor favourites Little Mix strut their stuff on Friday night.
After waiting in about an hour’s worth of queues, we finally make it into the racecourse entrance - where a girl and her mum are blasting out Little Mix from their car. Everyone’s really in the concert spirit.
Inside, a sea of people - all dressed to impress in suits or dresses - gather for the sold-out evening concert. But only after the show is halted because of a lost four-year-old girl; minutes later, though, she’s found safe in the crowd...
Drawing from last year’s number one album ‘Glory Days’, which The Guardian deemed “chart pop perfection”, its not hard to understand why Little Mix have gone stratospheric.
Slick choreography, flawless vocals and quick-witted chat between songs, they certainly know how to put on a proper show.
Kicking off with their newest single, ‘Power’ - full of fiery production and impressive vocal acrobatics - its a real anthem that gets the packed crowd going straight away.
Flanked by four male dancers - who get their own chance to shine during a brilliantly choreographed interval - the entire performance is throughly thought out.
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‘Black Magic’ comes next, with the audience singing back every word and screaming an awful lot when the band tease “we can’t hear you Newmarket!”
Chart hits like the empowering ‘Salute’ and lovesick ‘(No More) Sad Songs’ get massive reactions, whilst lesser known album track ‘Down & Dirty’ allows Perrie Edwards to unleash her unmatchable high notes.
“If you won at the races, give me a hell yeah,” Perrie teases before Jessy works each section of the crowd individually.
‘F.U’ brings the energy down as thousands of phones light up overhead creating a picture perfect moment.
“You lot are loud tonight,” shouts Jessy. She’s not wrong. “Who in the crowd is feeling sexy?” leads into ‘Hair’, yet another pop smash: they’ve got a bucketload of them.
Equally, though, when they strip back - like on the tear-jerking, piano-led, equality-promoting ballad ‘Secret Love Song, Pt II’ - they’re just as impressive.
‘Wings’ - their first number one single as they remind the crowd - once again showcases their faultless timing and Perrie’s Mariah Carey-challenging acrobatics. Before a medley of their other bangers, Jessy warns all the dads to sing too otherwise they’ll be dragged up on stage. But they don’t seem to mind...
Closing with their euphoric break-up banger ‘Shout Out To My Ex’, which receives the loudest singalong of the night, its undeniable that Little Mix are the biggest girl band in the world right now.
The Jacksons perform at Newmarket Racecourse on Friday June 30. For tickets visit http://newmarket.thejockeyclub.co.uk/events-tickets/whats-on/newmarket-nights-the-jacksons
