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Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
@Maxximum23Clark
4:23 PM 11th May 2015
arts

Gig Review: S Club 7

 
For fans of S Club 7 this reunion tour has been a long time coming. It is over 12 years since the band split up and judging by some of the younger fans here tonight, they would have only been aged 4 or 5 when the band broke up so this was probably their first chance to see them live, for the rest of us it was like the S Club had never been away.

Each member appears rising from podiums at the back of the stage as they then proceed to walk down their own individual staircase. Instead of opening the gig with one of their big hits, they chose to perform Bring the House Down, an old album track.

With 6 dancers on stage who intermingled with the group it was either a good idea or an attempt to cover up who in the group could not dance as well as well as the others.

"We've waited to do this for such a long time" announces Bradley McIntosh to the delight of the fans. Its not long before the hits start to be performed as S Club Party and You're My Number One have the fans on their feet.

Like the final tour JLS did last year and Steps did on their reunion tour, there is no visible band on stage and in S Club's case the soundtrack for the night has been pumped up with a heavy dance beat.

Also like Steps did on their last tour, each member performs a solo spot - with some being better than others. Paul Cattermole arrives on stage with an acoustic guitar to sing Reach, of course it isn't going to be the last we hear of this track tonight. Hannah Spearitt does a cover of the Paula Abdul track. Straight Up, whilst Tina Barrett performs Stronger.

Rachel Stevens gets a chance to perform her solo hits Some Girls and Sweet Dreams My LA Ex. It has to be said that Jo O'Meara has the best voice in the group and holds it all together vocally, her and Jon Lee duet on Hello Friend. Bradley McIntosh gets behind the DJ decks as he spins some old S Club album tracks.

If S Club7 had still been together at the time Mark Ronson wrote Uptown Funk, they probably would have had a hot with the track if they had sung it; instead we get their own version tonight.

The pace is kept upbeat as Reach closes the gig, the track is the one you mostly associate with them, it still sounds like an old Eurovision Son Contest entry but as 10,000 pairs of hands reach into the air as they perform the song, its hard not to smile.
It might sounds cheesy but confetti cannons shower the audience with silver stars (imitating the lyric of the song to "reach for the stars") Another track written by Cathy Dennis, Never Had a Dream Come True starts the two song encore before Don't Stop Movin closes a concert. that fans had waited 12 years to witness.

In the current age of down tempo tracks by singer/songwriters in the charts at present it was good to discover what pop music is all about: bright, bubbly, escapist and uplifting and judging by the smiling and singing that could be witnessed as the fans left the arena it looks like everyone else felt the same. Highly enjoyable.

The tour comes to Yorkshire and visits Leeds Arena on Tuesday 19 May and Sheffield Arena on Thursday 21 May.