‘It was a night many people will not forget for a very long time’

TRAGEDY was narrowly averted when Blue star Simon Webbe almost missed his gig supporting Steps due to his late arrival at the airport.

But apart from that near-miss – and Steps’ Lee Latchford-Evans forgetting the words to hit 5,6,7,8 – Friday’s long-awaited Slessor Gardens concert went off without a hitch.

The crowd was “Bubblin” for Blue before Steps burst on to the stage in a sea of pink.

The fabulous five opened with classic Summer of Love and the crowd went wild.

They performed all their bestknown and fans’ favourites from new album Tears On The Dancefloor, complete with their well-known dance moves.

Neon Blue, 5,6,7,8, Scared Of The Dark and, of course, Tragedy all got an airing and went down a storm.

Before the headline act arrived on stage, the audience was kept entertained with Power of Muzik, and classics from Abba tribute band Bjorn Again, with the crowd belting out the lyrics to Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen and Thank You For The Music.

Blue then leapt on to stage to cheers and screams from the crowd (myself included) and performed hits including Bubblin, All Rise, One Love and their Eurovision entry I Can.

The four boys kept the audience entertained for more than an hour, with Lee Ryan giving the crowd some singing tips along the way.

Simon then told how he had almost missed his flight to Dundee – arriving at the venue j ust 40 minutes before the band went on stage.

The great thing about Steps and Blue was that, even though you may not have heard the songs for a while, the words came flooding back as soon as the track started, making it easy to sing along.

The costume changes stood out, particularly the doctors and nurses outfits for Steps as they performed Chain Reaction and the cowboy-style inspired outfits for 5,6,7,8.

And it wasn’t only show-stopping dance tunes. The band also performed ballads Say You’ll Be Mine and It’s The Way You Make Me Feel and their very first number one, Heartbeat.

Other big hits with the crowd included Better Best Forgotten and Deeper Shade of Blue.

The crowd was so enthusiastic that Claire Richards proclaimed that Dundee was the best audience they have had on their tour so far.

Faye Tozer added: “We are having such a brilliant time.”

The concert as a whole, the venue, crowd and, most importantly, the individual artists were amazing and it was a night that many people will not forget for a long time.