Steps – MCR Arena – 10th April 2012 [Review]

Steps – MCR Arena – 10th April 2012
Supported by Shock-o-lady and Kamaliya

Though a big fan of Steps when I was younger and fifteen when they split, I never had chance to see the band live when they were originally together, a missed opportunity it would seem as they were, according to popular opinion, (and I use the 90s vernacular) awesome live.

So, when the band announced they were re-forming for a tour I decided it was something I couldn’t pass up so grabbed a ticket for their date at Manchester Arena.

The sold-out and packed-out gig began with two support acts. The first was Shock-o-lady, a camp karaoke act who kicked off with a by-numbers but effective cover of T-Rex’s ‘Get It On’ before rattling through a handful of poppy cheesy numbers including ‘I’m Not Your Nanny’ and ‘Showdown’, which featured the simply titled Mr Smith as a guest rapper, a sort of lightweight Professor Green. ‘I Like It Like That’ concluded their short fifteen minute set, another song that stole from the book of sexual clichés and though the tracks were nothing more than a mixture of camp, cheesy pop ditties they were catchy enough with a little bit of added rap in to modernise them. Mr Smith was good as a rapper with some great delivery though for the most part of fulfilled the role of uncredited rap appearance or someone just to remind everyone that they were in Manchester.

Though I would happily buy some songs buy Shock-o-lady as it was a fitting enjoyable set, I can’t say the same for the second support, Kamaliya. She would get a big thumbs up for the performance art on stage with some impressive dancers who flicked between forming furniture for her to sit on, moving her around stage, and dressing up as weird creatures that were a cross between Primeval’s future predator and Lady GaGa’s costume in ‘Bad Romance’ . Oh, and the impressive trippy VJ visuals on screens. But, what she wouldn’t get awards for would be the music. Though I have to say the arena’s sound system wasn’t the best anyway – even during Steps it was a little overpowering musically rather than lyrically, it was difficult to make out what Kamaliya was actually singing so it ended up as twenty minutes of muddy vocals over music with only the performance art of the piece to really sell it. Sadly, some dancers that went from talented to creepy cannot sell bland Euro-trash and ironically the only time you could hear her clearly was as the set came to a close and she stumbled over the name of the act she was supporting which is surely a big no-no when you’re touring with a big comeback name.

Following the support acts we got five music videos recommended by the members of Steps which were Lady GaGa’s ‘Edge of Glory’, Rihanna’s ‘We Found Love’, Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’, Lady GaGa’s ‘Born This Way’ and one other I can’t remember, which shows that Steps’ tastes in music is perhaps for bland 21st century RnB before the show finally kicked off.

Opening in a similar style to Take That’s recent ‘Progress’ tour – at least that meets the opening of Aqua’s ‘Cartoon Heroes video (that’s the coming out of chryogenic freezing, not a giant space octopus destroying the arena) – we got the first of the impressive digital graphics on stage that saw a safe vault being unlocked with a mixture of their video highlights and the five members appearing in blocks of ice. However, the countdown did throw the audience with the last three seconds of the countdown lasting far longer than the rest. These were dropped and then – pow – the group appeared in physical containers on stage. Even at this early point the display graphics shone and they would continue throughout the performance.

Supported by an entourage of backing dancers, Steps began with ‘Here and Now’, picked I assume for its titular relevance, performed from inside the containers. It was clear from this opening that both the music – all backing tracks pumped into the venue – have been given a modern lick of audio paint and had been re-built for impact. A building tick and powerful start allowed the opening song to kick off the show with power. You’ll be glad to know that ten years of absence from the live circuit hadn’t really taken any impact on their voices with the first song sang perfectly even from within the constraints of their tubes.

They were soon released to the opening bars of the excellent ‘You’ll Be Sorry’ which rocked the venue and was, again, delivered spot on.

Before we could get to the next song there was time for a theme that would be returned to throughout the night with dance performances punctuating every few songs to allow for costume changes. In the most part this worked really well but there were plenty of times when there would be thirty seconds or so of inactivity on stage with nothing happening which made the production seem less-slick than it could have been in comparison to, say, Take That’s comeback which continually flowed.

Speaking of Take That, ‘Deeper Shade of Blue’ began with digital soldiers walking on stage to a foot-marching beat and I half expected them to start performing ‘Kidz’. But it was, in fact, a modernised version of the song with a more bombastic opening and dubstep-esque middle breakdown where the group performed a special dance section. From watching their dance moves they all seemed still comfortable with doing it, even Claire who through the television series didn’t hide her dislike and discomfort with dancing. The live version of the song was even better than the single version and set the tone for the adaptations throughout the show.

Steps first monologue on stage was greeted with much applause before the band led the audience through a lengthy, but worthwhile, parody of the Just Dance games with each member of Steps getting a section of the audience who would each do a certain dance move. It was a great idea for crowd interaction and got everyone going and the graphical spoof behind them was spot on for the rhythm dancing genre and worked excellently in time with the music. In the space of eight minutes we got a flowing montage of ‘Last Thing On My Mind’, ‘Better Best Forgotten’ and ‘Love’s Got A Hold Of My Heart’, all performed with vigour on top of a floating stage, with all the crowd taking part in crucial moments.

Debut single ‘5,6,7,8’ was up next and it was great to hear Lee take centre stage though the live version was cut cruelly short after one verse to be replaced by a recorded loop of the song over videos of the public performing the dance. Though it would be great if you were one on the video, the loop of the chorus was tedious and I would have rather have got the full song live.

After a costume change it was time for one of my highlights of the show and one of my favourite Steps song. The backing track for ‘Summer of Love’ had been given a Spanish flamenco make-over and really suited the track. Returning to stage with more dancers it was great to see the track performed on stage with such energy.

By this point the show had really got into its stride with the most intriguing number following. Mixing up their cover of Kylie’s ‘Better The Devil I Know’ with Lady GaGa’s ‘Judas’ it was both a song that worked on an audio level as a smooth mash-up but also as a visual display with some absolutely cracking live fire work with flame bars and much more, matched up with flame graphics behind and some other more demonic images, with a catchy breakdown and ending even if the appeal of that owed more to the piped-in music.

Taking a break from the Steps tracks, the gig now moved into a series of solo numbers. Starting with my favourite one, Lee covering Maroon 5’s ‘Moves Like Jagger’ mixed up with Rihanna’s ‘S&M’. During the number Lee proved himself to both a good singer in tackling the two tracks together and a bit of eye candy for the girls.

Faye was up next with ‘One Night Only’, which she has performed previously on stage, but perhaps not on top of a large pink stiletto. A good performance, but not entirely perfect, it was a refreshing change of pace though to a more ballad-style but did change as the track reached its conclusion with a speedier, popier ending.

Next up was H and though the song has been covered so many times recently it’s become a little stale, his cover of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ was pedestrian but fun enough to hear. What made it really impressive, though, was his interactions with the digital display behind with him avoiding water drops, bashing away balls and taking part in a faux-video-game thanks to some smoke machines, lifts and clever editing. It was impressive how he continued to sing so well whilst still also doing all the running about and meeting his cues.

Fourth up was Lisa with another impressive mash-up, this time of DJ Sammy’s ‘Heaven’, Chris Brown’s ‘Beautiful People’ and her own ‘Lately’, a much needed nod to a solo career that only her, and Faye to an extent, did. No ‘H&Claire’ in the gig. Lisa showed off her voice on ‘Heaven’ before moving beautifully between the other two.

Claire completed the solo section with a powerful, beautiful version of ‘I Surrender’ and showed her voice off well as seen on television show ‘Popstar To Operastar’. Though a dramatic change of pace the song was well received and she lit up the stage.

After the solo sets it was time to return to the Steps discography with ‘It’s The Way You Make Me Feel’, given a more angelic opening that sounded like *those* Lloyd’s adverts. In outfits reminiscent of the video it was a great version even if Lisa’s microphone was a little too quiet in parts. The group then continued through a selection of songs – ‘Heartbeat’, ‘When I Said Goodbye’ and the band-favourite ‘One For Sorrow’ – all well performed with a mixture of dancers and visual effects.

By this point we were well and truly into the dance finale with personal favourite ‘Stomp’ giving an extended disco opening as they changed costumes and the crowd came alive to dance along. Cover songs ‘Chain Reaction’ and ‘Dancing Queen’ brought the set to a conclusion, both songs performed well. But, unsurprisingly, Steps returned on stage for an encore of cult favourite ‘Tragedy’ where everybody did the dance and brought the gig to a close after almost two hours with much applause.

Though I don’t have classic Steps gigs to compare it to the comeback gig was well worth seeing. Though the transition between songs could have been slicker and more flowing in several parts, there were many more positives to the gigs. The group’s singing and dance moves were just as accomplished ten years on; the track selection, featuring some inspired mash-ups and modernisations, was flawless; and the visual graphics and sets were impressive, especially when they interacted.

I would have liked perhaps a live band rather than all the piped-in music and maybe more Steps and fewer performance dance sections but these are just minor criticisms. The atmosphere was great and the ability to get a copy of the gig on CD straight after was a welcome addition as a great memento of the gig.

It’ll be interesting to see where Steps go from here but the live return worked well and an enjoyable night was had by all.

8/10