Little Mix and Fifth Harmony: Double Life: Information

LM5: The Tour

LM5: The Tour was the third worldwide concert tour and sixth overall held by British-American girl group Little Mix. The tour began on 16 September 2019 at the WiZink Center in Madrid, Spain and concluded on 19 December 2019 at the Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand in support of their fifth studio album, LM5 (2018). 

'The LM5 Tour' received positive reviews from critics with praise given to its messages of feminism and female empowerment. The tour consisted of 60 sold-out shows across Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America, and grossed over $30 million worldwide. Following their five sold out dates at The O2 Arena in London, Little Mix received an award by the O2 Arena, in recognition for their five headlined shows at the venue. They have headlined the venue a total of 12 times across from four tours, and sold over 184,000 tickets. A concert film of the tour was later released in cinemas worldwide on 21 November 2020 titled LM5: The Tour Film.

Background:

Little Mix announced the tour on 18 October 2018 via their Twitter account. A second round of shows was announced on 25 October 2018. However, a planned date in Aberdeen on 4 October 2019 was subsequently cancelled due to unforeseen logistical issues. An extra date was added at Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart due to popular demand at 22 September 2019. On 21 March 2019 a new date was added on the Europe leg, 28 September 2019 at Dome de Paris, Paris.  In March 2019, dates in Australia and North America were announced. The following month, it was announced the group would co-headline the Fusion Festival UK in September, alongside Rudimental. In June 2019, the group's tour dates in Oceania were delayed, due to the release of Bounce Back. That same month, a date in New Zealand was announced. Two Oceania shows were cancelled in October. In August 2019, it was announced that Keelie Walker would serve as a supporting act for European, Oceania and American dates, while Mae Muller and New Rules would serve as supporting for the group's Ireland and United Kingdom dates.

During the last UK show at the O2 Arena in London, the full show was recorded for a concert film. On 8 October 2020, Little Mix announced on their social media that they will be releasing their first concert film titled LM5: The Tour Film. together with the official poster of the film. The film premiered in cinemas worldwide on 21 November 2020.

Critical Reception:

The LM5 Tour received positive reviews from critics with The Times giving their tour a four out of five star rating. Minnie Wright from the Daily Express said "The tour is a fiery showcase of well-meaning (and often brilliantly pitched) empowerment messaging, and throughout which the band convey an authentic unity. The bonus delight, however, comes in the form of the shining punctuating moments in which they deliver divine four-part harmonies to perfection; soft and belting numbers alike, leaving no doubt as to the talent which underpins their success.

Emily Baker from Inews gave their tour a four out of five star rating. They said "It marked the first of a sold-out three-night run at London's O2 which many great moments promoting self love and feminism throughout the night. The LM5 tour recalls Beyonce's most famous shows, with encouraging messages about feminism activism scattered throughout the unignorable visuals. It's clear the band want fans to see their concerts not just as a night of infectious pop, but as a movement to effect change. Whether the 9-year-old girls in light up bunny ears will take their messages on board is yet to be seen, but you have to applaud them for trying". 

Laura Hernández from Okdiario, who was at the first show in Madrid, wrote "the importance of women's empowerment was present, from the beginning, at their concert". Hernández continued to highlight "the spectacular medley of "Only You" with "Black Magic" [...] so well they combined it so it looked like a single song. The lighting, the play of lights and the stage shine like never". She concluded her review by saying "after an hour and a half of a show simply brilliant, spectacular and as few have seen in Spain, the girls of Little Mix said goodbye to their Spanish audience. On numerous occasions they made it clear that they had not had such an extremely large audience so delivered for a long time. They love Spain and, once again, it has been shown that we also love them." Also about the first show of the tour, Agustín Gómez Cascales from the Spanish gay magazine Shangay, wrote that "they exceeded the expectations of most attendees with a show as entertaining as, at times, powerful".