Confession: this reviewer was actually present at the ‘last ever’ Steps gig at the Manchester Arena back in December 2001. You know, the one where H flew over the audience like the Gay of Christmas Past.
Still, it was fun in a catchy, energetic, LGBT friendly sort of way, with the audience equally split between 9 and 10 year old girls and 25-50 year old men in glittery stetsons. Then came the bombshell: later in the week, Steps announced they were breaking up.
They probably had to print a helpline in the Manchester Evening News.
But, like zombies, vampires and Jesus, pop groups with no transferable skills don’t stay dead for long. Last year, they announced they were reforming, a process that was followed in the fascinatingly bad Steps Reunion, where they attempted to stop bitching and bickering at each other long enough to remember how to dance. And failed.
On The Road Again picks up where Reunion left off, with all the ‘characters’ as blissfully unaware of their own ridiculousness as ever. They’re now planning an arena tour that will allow a whole new generation of gay men to watch their sub-Eurovision antics on a big stage, with state of the art miming equipment. Unfortunately, their in-fighting and general lack of gumption means it looks quite unlikely the tour will ever see the light of day.
Add to that Claire’s sudden announcement to camera that she’s writing a no-holds-barred autobiography about the other group members, but ‘hasn’t got round to telling them yet’, and the tour looks about as likely as David Cameron embracing radical left-wing anti-capitalism, tripling the benefits budget and joining the Occupy movement.
Still, if you’ve watched all the latest episodes of Come Dine With Me and want to watch four people who have nothing in common dislike each other on camera for an hour, Steps: On The Road Again should hit the spot.
————————————————————————————————————————
Steps: On The Road Again, is on Mondays, 9pm on Sky Living HD.
