Girls Aloud’s ‘Close to Love,’ ‘Black Jacks’ Live Performances Join YouTube
Both performances come from the group’s 2008 Tangled Up Tour performances at the O2 Arena.
On the heels of the arrival of their “Sexy! No No No” performance arriving on YouTube, two more classic Girls Aloud performances have joined the platform. “Close To Love” and “Black Jacks,” both performed live on their Tangled Up Tour, can now be viewed in all their HD glory from the comfort of home.
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Both “Close To Love” and “Black Jacks” come from Girls Aloud’s 2007 album Tangled Up, regarded among both critics and fans as a high-water mark in the girl group’s career. Featuring hits like “Sexy! No No No,” “Call The Shots,” and “Can’t Speak French,” Tangled Up was a platinum-selling album in the United Kingdom and was certified gold in Ireland. Both “Black Jacks” and “Close To Love” represent deeper cuts on the album. “Black Jacks” has a harder, rockier edge than some of the other cuts in Girls Aloud’s discography, featuring a driving beat from a drum set and a chanted, arena-filling refrain. “Close to Love,” meanwhile, takes a bit of a funkier route while maintaining some of the electric guitar edge of “Black Jacks.” The track features wispy vocals on the song’s chorus and a call and response refrain.
Both performances come from Girls Aloud’s Tangled Up Tour, which brought the group to 35 different shows across two concert legs. Aside from two shows at the O2 Arena, from which both of these live performances come, the group also took their show to Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, Edinburgh, and many more cities across the United Kingdom throughout 2008.
Girls Aloud most recently toured in 2024 as quartet after member Sarah Harding died in 2021. During that tour, the group performed another five dates at the O2 Arena in London. Though the group acknowledged it was odd performing without Harding, they said she had encouraged them to do the tour. “There’s a bigger sense of togetherness now than there was before,” said member Nicola Roberts in an interview with The Guardian. Added Cheryl Tweedy, “We’re like sisters now, so it never really ends. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve cried laughing. It’s been really fun.”
