Trip down musical memory lane turned out to be truly Steptacular (From Swindon Advertiser)

Trip down musical memory lane turned out to be truly Steptacular at Westonbirth Arboretum

11:14am Tuesday 24th July 2012 in News By Katie Bond

OKAY, I’ll admit it. I was a big Steps fan when I was younger: CDs, books, T-shirts – I had the lot.

So watching them perform at Westonbirt Arboretum more than 10 years after their shock split on Boxing Day 2001 was a bit of a trip down memory lane.

However, with Faye, Claire, Lisa, H and Lee now in their mid-30s, but with their bitter break-up far behind them, I guess it was to be expected that their infamous energetic dance moves would have been dropped in favour of a slightly more laid-back performance.

Gone were the dozens of costume changes, pyrotechnics and fancy stage sets, and in were the live, and pretty impressive, vocals and sophisticated black outfits (albeit still covered in multi-coloured sequins).

And while the average age of the fans in the audience seemed to have more than tripled since the last time I saw the group in concert as a 12-year-old at Wembley, it seems Steps could still put on a ‘Steptacular’ show.

From the upbeat hits including Deeper Shade of Blue which opened the show, to the mid-tempo One For Sorrow and ballads including It’s The Way You Make Me Feel, Heartbeat and When I Said Goodbye, the group had fans singing and dancing along with them for the entire show.

Although the kid inside me was slightly disappointed by the watered down dance moves and basic stage costumes, the group, who ended the concert with a show-stopping performance of Tragedy, proved that they still have what it takes to fill arenas up and down the country.

– KATIE BOND