REVIEW
ATTITUDE can be everything.
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The five European groups that took to the Wests City stage on Valentine’s Day had battled a heatwave, missing members, health issues and low expectations during their Australian and New Zealand tour.
But when B*Witched, Atomic Kitten, S Club, East 17 and Liberty X hit Newcastle, they left nothing in the tank.
A combination of slick and short sets that capitalised on their classics and made it hard to believe almost two decades had passed since their heyday, plus just enough banter to show they didn’t take themselves too seriously, had the enthusiastic audience of about 300 eating out of the palms of their hands.
Wests City has hosted a number of nostalgia acts over the past five years – including Vengaboys, S Club and Boyz II Men – but never has it had so many late 1990s and early 2000s acts come together in one night, let alone hosted any groups from the era in the midst of a bona fide revival similar to B*Witched’s.
Liberty X’s three female members Michelle Heaton, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young last performed in Australia in 2002’s Rumba and were perhaps the least known of the line up, but set the bar high by opening with dancefloor fillers Just A Little, Holding On for You, Got To Have Your Love and their timeless, pumping version of Being Nobody.
At times the roughly three hour show could have been mistaken for a giant karaoke session, with mostly women in their 30s singing earnestly along to their teenage favourites and the DJ keeping energy high in between sets by playing artists including Blue, Backstreet Boys, Billie, The Cardigans, Five and Steps.
But by no means should it be relegated to one.
Concerns over how East 17’s new lead singer Robbie Craig (original lead singer Brian Harvey left around 2010 and Craig joined in early 2014) would deliver the group’s hits were quashed as soon as the opening notes of House of Love started.
The crowd went wild as Craig and original members John Hendy and Terry Coldwell – the 90s bad boys now donning black suits over their tattoos – jumped on speakers and danced with surprising gusto as they performed Steam, Deep, Around the World, Stay Another Day and finished with one of the night’s highlights, the anthemic It’s Alright.
The group chose to release its new album 24/7 and single Strip in Australia first to coincide with the tour, with the song expected to make an appearance in other shows.
S Club was arguably the weakest link of the show, but also offered one of the most fun sets of the night.
The group started as a seven piece in 1998 but has been whittled down to Tina Barrett, Bradley McIntosh and lead Jo O'Meara, who pulled out of the tour on February 5 with a strangulated bowel.
Barrett and McIntosh did their best on the group’s sunny hits including S Club Party, Reach, Bring It All Back, Never Had a Dream Come True, Two In A Million and Don’t Stop Movin with a little help from a recording of O’Meara’s vocals and delighted crowd members Mark, Steve and Andrea, who joined them on stage.
English tabloid favourite Kerry Katona stole Atomic Kitten’s show, picking out the New York based women who she’d climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge with last week, encouraging everyone to “shake your cellulite” and hamming it up on stage when forgetting dance moves. “Has anyone got oxygen, or a vodka?” she asked.
The trio – which also included powerhouse Natasha Hamilton and Liberty X’s Michelle Heaton (filling in for nervous flyer Liz McClarnon) – seemed to be the group most comfortable being back on stage.
They sang hit after hit, with Right Now, a medley of It’s OK! and Be with You, Eternal Flame, Ladies Night, Tide Is High (Get The Feeling) before ending with Whole Again, their biggest selling single to date.
Charismatic headliners B*Witched were worth the almost two hour wait and took the already impressive show up a level, decked in their trademark double denim with a modern twist.
The trio – member Lindsay Armaou couldn’t join them for ‘personal reasons’ – mixed new songs from 2014 EP Champagne or Guinness, which they said is experiencing an unexpected surge in popularity in Australia, with an Abba medley and older hits including Jesse Hold On, Rollercoaster (updated with the rap from Salt and Pepa’s Shoop) and Blame It On The Weatherman.
“Whether you’re straight, gay, bisexual, whatever, love is the universal language,” said lead Edele, nursing a tendon injury on her right hand, before launching into To You I Belong.
The group, which could easily hold its own in a full length show, expect to release a third album next January and hasn’t ruled out a return to Australian shores.
Judging by the deafening shouts for encore C’est la Vie – and the cheers when the trio broke out into Irish dancing – they’ll have fans waiting with open arms.