LIVE REVIEW: 90s pop icons Steps take fans back to childhood at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium

As a 90's baby, I grew up with every school disco, sleepover and wedding filled with the songs of Steps and Blue, so I was incredibly excited to delve into a nostalgia filled evening at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium.
Steps at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium.Steps at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium.
Steps at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium.

I was expecting cheesy hits, glitter and of course, crowds dancing decade​s ​old moves in unison.

Thankfully,​ the bands did not disappoint in those areas and no one can say that it wasn’t an upbeat and fun night.

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However,​ there were a few let downs - including first support act Power Of Muzic​,​ who quite frankly lacked substance.

Three young singers performed covers of old hits while wearing brightly coloured leather trousers. The crowd didn't exactly get amped up,​ especially when they sang their own song titled Tornado, which was quite sombre.

Next was Saara Aalto,​ who blew my expectations out of the water. She has an incredible voice, her songs were upbeat and catchy - not your average X​-Factor contestant.

My favourite song was titled Han and she told the crowd of it’s meaning - in Finnish it means both he and she, so the song could be sung to anyone and was inclusive.

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Blue entered on their classic One Love, which immediately resulted in a hundred camera phones lifting into the air to get a snapshot of the boys for ​Instagram. Something I’m not ashamed to admit I participated in!

They sang hit after hit and everyone in the crowd was fully transported back to the days when posters of the band hung on our childhood bedroom​ wall​s. It was singer turned actor Lee Ryan’s birthday and,​ mid performance, his children ran on stage to give him a balloon and cake, at which point the crowd erupted into Happy Birthday.

Then it was time for Steps who burst onto the stage with an array of dancers who almost masked the fact that Lee Latchford-Evans was not among them.

Sadly,​ he could not be there due to an family emergency. This didn’t really hinder the show,​ but it did have an impact on one of the band’s most famous songs ​5,6,7,8.

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Ian 'H' Watkins told the crowd that,​ after 21 years,​ he had not learnt the words to his band members'​ lyrics so, when his fast​-paced verse came up in the classic, they pointed the microphones to the crowd to fill in the gaps.

The group seamlessly managed the rest of the performance without him though. And what a show they put on​!

Everything from disco ball​-headed dancers to galaxy backdrops, the stage production far exceeded any expectations I had.

I was admittedly sceptical of Steps performing their new music​,​ as well as their old classics​,​ but I need not have been apprehensive. They were all great and we often couldn’t tell the difference between them.

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Lisa Scott-Lee told the crowd that she was happy to be up north again as her husband Johnny is from Bentley, so she felt at home in the Keepmoat.

I’m very glad that I had the chance to hear ​in person the music that I played constantly on my cassette player as a child.