The Saturdays performing their Greatest Hits Live Tour at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on Friday 12th September 2014.


Images and review by Kevin Cooper

Things move scarily fast in the world of pop. Before you know it, that gang of fresh faced girls with the cheeky Yazoo sample on their debut single have suddenly been in the business for seven years and are out on tour to promote their greatest hits collection; Finest Selection.

The show got underway with images on the back drop of an airport lounge and a plane landing to allow the five leading ladies to appear on stage accompanied by dancers dressed as pilots. An hour and a half is as long as it takes for The Saturdays to take us on a rollercoaster trip through their mainly upbeat back-list and the opener, What Are You Waiting For, followed by Up, straight away reminded us what actual pop belters they have previously delivered.

Dressed in glitzy gold outfits, Frankie, Una, Rochelle. Mollie and Vanessa, were as gorgeous in the flesh as you had imagined them to be, and their friendly banter between songs showcased how close they all are which seemed to charm the pants off the Concert Hall.

Whilst there is no doubt that their voices can do the business live, it wasn’t until the obligatory cover version, a super radio friendly version of Depeche Mode’s synth classic, Just Can’t Get Enough, that got the crowd into their groove and onto their feet, as the number raised the roof.

Another of the most popular routines was also a blast from the past, when they delivered Disco Love ably assisted by hunky male dancers dressed in their latest revealing costumes. Not to be outdone in the fashion stakes, there were five different costumes for the girls from the sparkling glitz of the opening numbers through to street fashions and skimpy firefighter kits for All Fired Up.

A nice touch to the set was a short acoustic interlude, where the girl’s harmonies passed the test on Walking Through The Desert, which led to a triumphant Ego and the slower Issues, thus demonstrating the variety of their work. The title track of their first album, Chasing Lights had the crowd switching on their mobile phones to provide the requested fairy lights, before the show was brought to an end with the lovely, What About Us.

With more babies being added to The Saturday’s ever growing family and with Frankie Bridge taking her chances on Strictly Come Dancing, there are the inevitable rumours that this might be a farewell tour and not just a greatest hits outing. But surely those rumours won’t do them any harm when it comes to selling tickets for this 20 date tour.

It was an evening of exuberance, good singing and dancing, and illustrated that this manufactured band formed through Fascination Records, does have something about them. Will they still be around when their own children are old enough to go to concerts; well that remains to be seen.