Sugababes fail to push the button at Canterbury
The hat-trick of howlers left fans disappointed and cricket bosses wondering if they will stage any more concerts on the Canterbury pitch.
Three years ago Elton John sold so many tickets at the venue police had to close roads in the city. But on Friday barely 5,000 paid to see the three Push the Button and Red Dress saucepots – even after tickets were reduced to £25.
The club desperately needs the cash to boost finances but some showbiz experts suggested Friday's show could land it in the red. One said: "I would be surprised if it broke even after the costs of the stage, lighting and sound are taken into account."
Singer James Morrison fared a little better on Saturday with a 10,000-strong crowd although that was after concert promoters blitzed the NHS East Kent and Coastal Primary Care Trust with offers of cut-price tickets.
No one from the club was replying to phone calls on Monday.
Using the social networking site Twitter, original Sugababe Keisha Buchanan, 24, confessed: "We made so many mistakes. We had to start songs again and everything. It really has been a while."
She added: "For us, it (the show) wasn't that good because it's been ages and we messed up A LOT. Ha! Ha! Ha!"
On stage she told the audience of mainly mums and young girls: "We are so sorry. We haven't played live for a long time."
The first "no ball" was the sixth song Too Lost in Love from the movie Love Actually. Blonde Heidi Range 26, a founder of Atomic Kitten who joined the Babes in 2001, forgot the start and told the crowd: "This is what happens when we do it live."
A second googly came in the eighth song Hole in the Head. The third followed when the girls fluffed their final number About You Now at the end of the 75-minute set.
The girls suddenly cleared the stage after the 13th song Red Dress leaving the crowd in stunned silence. Only after a few minutes did it dawn on the fans that the trio had finished and were waiting backstage to start an encore.
A half-hearted ripple of "We want more" was all it took to get Keisha, Heidi and Amelle Berrabah, 24, back on with their five-piece backing band to finish the set with Push the Button and Girls.
When they weren't making mistakes the girls sang well and looked superb. But they have always been dogged by rumours of impending splits. Their last album was called Catfights and Spotlights.
There was probably a lot of that going on after Friday's show.
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