Music

Most Picnic parties better than an S Club Party

EP2017: Throwback Stage packed for three remaining S Clubbers who need a bit of cash

Aggressive love: S Club on the Electric Ireland Throwback Stage at Electric Picnic on Saturday. Photograph: @greeneggs_ on Twitter

Louise Bruton
Sat Sep 2 2017 - 20:20

S Club Party
Electric Ireland Throwback Stage
★★

Aided by the rain, the Electric Ireland Throwback Stage is well over capacity for the three remaining S Clubbers who need a bit of cash. Tina, Bradley and Jo. Everybody’s fave...

Starting with S Club, the song is cut short, removing the parts of the verse that celebrate Paul, Hannah, Jon and Rachel. How cruel. We came here for the music, not the politics.

“Alright guys, we’re gonna take you down a trip down memory lane,” says Bradley, interrupting Jo and stating the bloody obvious.

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Don't Stop (Bring It All Back) is a jarring experience. Their debut single, also the opening song to their BBC sitcom, captured them as fresh-faced poppets but now... well, look. They're here.

They fling out a couple of new songs, over a uncooperative, messy sound system. The crowd is getting a little restless. Throwing out Two in a Million, an under appreciated love ballad that once had Rachel on lead vocals, is a daring move. The crowd thins out.

"We're your childhood," quips Bradley just as the opening clinks of Never Had A Dream Come True send the crowd into absolute pandemonium. The security have never seen such aggressive love. It's practically the Christmas edition of Top of the Pops up in here.

Jo, waving an Irish flag the wrong way around, is almost forgiven for the Celebrity Big Brother incident.

Bradley, again, rallies through snippets of other songs. Boom boom boom, let me here you say way-oh. Who let the dogs out. 24 years I’ve been living next door to Alice. Tina finally breaks her silence. “I have the flu,” she says, “in case you were wondering...”

Don't Stop Movin', a banger for the ages, is the second last song, right before the upbeat and forever joyous Reach. It ends on a high, even though it was all a bit of a reach in the end.

In three words: an upbeat disappointment

If you like this, go see: Smash Hits

EP17