Similar to a disclaimer I put out when reviewing the Spice Girls in 2019, I’m aware S Club are also not considered a rock band. However, they were my ultimate favourite band as a child and their music is incredibly catchy, simple, beautiful, positive and timeless.
This was actually my second time seeing S Club, after seeing them perform live in Birmingham back in 2015. This time it was at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff on Monday 23rd October 2023. It had a bit of a bittersweet feeling with the absence of my favourite band member Hannah Spearritt and the sad passing of Paul Cattermole in April 2023. Part of me was surprised the tour was still going ahead following Paul’s death but proud that five members of the band were determined to continue and celebrate Paul’s memory. I was also slightly anxious about the quality of the show as a result of these unexpected changes.
On the night of the gig, my anxiety grew when the two support acts came on, which I can only describe as “bloody awful”. There was a girl band called Sweet Love, who appeared to be singing cover songs from the 90s and 00s and most likely miming. The second act was a 14-piece band called Now United, which to me sounded like a very diverse, complex and terrible Eurovision audition.
After a rather disappointing start, I was concerned S Club’s performance would be at the same dreary level – how I was so wrong…
S Club came out in spectacular style – Tina doing her dance, Jon looking for romance, Bradley swinging, Rachel doing her thing and Jo has got the flow – well, not exactly, but you get the punchline I was going for.
In fact, they did open with S Club Party, but instead of doing the original verse where they name each band member, they just sang “Get ready everybody”, which I understood why and it felt like we were all included, but I still would’ve prefered it if they mentioned Hannah and Paul too.
They then went on to perform every S Club hit including Love Ain’t Gonna Wait For You, You’re My Number One, Natural, Sunshine, You, Stronger, Bring The House Down, Friday Night, Two In A Million, Have You Ever and Alive.
I was so relieved there was no miming and the whole band had great stage presence and interactions with the crowd. Jo’s vocals were still outstanding and breathtaking, Bradley’s dancing was still exceptional (well so I was told) and the whole band just sounded like they were all having great fun. I hope they continue to have that much fun together when they are away from the stage and screen.
I admit when they played Don’t Stop Movin’, I did try re-creating the dance routine I did when I was a child – and I wasn’t even drunk.
Following the sad and untimely passing of Paul, it was expected a tribute would be made to him during the show. They played a montage of images and videos of Paul from over the years and then they went on to sing Good Times, which I thought was a great choice of song. The band then gave a few words of thanks for everyone’s support over the past six months and that although the news of Paul’s death is sad, this is also a time to celebrate his life, so they went into Bring It All Back.
As a child, I would listen to S Club songs and just think these are fun, catchy songs to sing-a-long to. Now as an adult, I listen to the lyrics more thoroughly and find they highlight mental health and self-care. For example, “When the world seems to get too tough, bring it all back to you”. This why I think S Club’s music is so timeless and can be so relevant to today’s society, especially when the number of people facing mental health issues is on the rise.
They also performed their newest track These Are The Days, which S Club released in July 2023 in memory of Paul. I’ve only heard it a couple of times and I think it still has the same S Club musical style we know and love, but I still feel it’s a grower on me.
Another exciting moment was when S Club were announcing the new single, they mentioned other 90s and 00s bands that have released new music and they mentioned Steps. We then found out H from Steps was in the crowd (in the VIP seats of course) and there was hope he may go on stage and perform with them, but sadly not.
The finale of the show wasn’t what I expected. They played Reach, another ultimate S Club classic, before the encore but I thought they’d make that the last song. So, during the encore, I was debating how old they would close the show as I knew the only other well-known song missing from the setlist was Never Had A Dream Come True. Of course, they did perform it, beautiful as ever, but as it was a slow ballad, I thought it would be a strange song to close on. Instead, they performed a remix version of S Club Party to end the show. It was okay, but personally, I would’ve preferred they closed with Reach.
Overall, the S Club 25th anniversary tour exceeded almost all my expectations and it is so true that there “Ain’t no party like an S Club Party!!!” Let’s hope they will do a 30th anniversary tour, and Hannah will join them once again.
