Tour by Steps | |
Associated album | The Ultimate Collection |
---|---|
Start date | 2 April 2012 |
End date | 27 August 2012 |
Legs | 2 |
No. of shows | 30 in Total |
Steps concert chronology |
The Ultimate Tour was the sixth concert tour [1] by British group Steps. Formed in 1997, the group comprises Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Ian "H" Watkins, Lee Latchford-Evans and Lisa Scott-Lee. Beginning in April 2012, 'The Ultimate Tour' supports the band's compilation album, The Ultimate Collection . It is the group's first concert tour in 11 years. Additional dates were added for the summer of 2012, playing music festivals. The tour predominantly visited arenas across the United Kingdom as well as a one-off performance in the Republic of Ireland. The initial UK dates sold out in the first few hours of their general release, leading the band to announce six new dates. [2] Dates were also added for music festivals for summer 2012.
Sony record company intended to release a greatest hits album with the Steps music due to the ten-year anniversary following their 'acrimonious' [3] split [4] in 2001. Claire Richards said with the production of The Ultimate Collection album coupled with the ten-year anniversary, 'it just seemed right' to get back together. [5] As the group reconciled, plans for a reunion tour developed. The tour was announced by Steps in their Sky Living documentary "Steps: Reunion". The tour was confirmed on the band appearance on This Morning . [6] The band performed hits "Tragedy" and "It's the Way You Make Me Feel".
The pre-show begins with a video shown on a large screen dominating the backdrop of the step, showing a one-minute countdown as the dancers come onstage. As the dancers arrive onstage, images of vaults and tubes with Steps inside are shown on the screens. The concept behind this is that the five members of Steps have been cryogenically frozen since their 2001 split at the final Manchester date.
The five band members rise onto the stage in five separate glass tubes, symbolising the idea that they are being awoken ten years after the split. The set list begins with "Here and Now" by performing from inside the tubes throughout the song. The song goes straight into "You'll Be Sorry". Afterwards, each member in turn is spotlighted as they introduce themselves to the crowd as their names appear on the screen. This is followed by "Deeper Shade of Blue" which also contains a dance break which samples Britney Spears' Hold It Against Me.
The group then exits the stage as a musical interlude and dance number by the dancers is played. Steps returns to the stage on a lift that sees them above the stage in height. Saying that they are back, they each split the crowd into different teams. Each member has their own team, and their own new dance move they show. Using these dance moves and the original choreography, they perform a medley of "Last Thing on My Mind", "Better Best Forgotten" and "Love's Got a Hold on My Heart", followed by "5,6,7,8" which is followed by a video montage of fans performing 5,6,7,8.
The next section begins with a salsa dance routine performed by the dancers. This section consists of "Summer of Love" Tour Mix, which was originally intended for the Steptacular Tour and "Better the Devil You Know", mixed with Lady Gaga's "Judas".
As with all of their other tours in the past, they each perform solo songs. Lee, performs a mashup of Maroon 5's hit "Moves Like Jagger" with Rihanna's "S&M". Faye performs "One Night Only". H performs a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". Lisa sings a medley of "Heaven", "Beautiful People" and her debut hit single "Lately". Finally, Claire, performs a cover of Celine Dion's "I Surrender".
The next section begins with an operatic-style video interlude. "It's the Way You Make Me Feel" is next followed by "Heartbeat". "When I Said Goodbye" is then performed, followed by "One For Sorrow".
After the band goes offstage, during which a musical interlude is played, they return onstage with "Stomp" and "Chain Reaction". The show ends with their cover ABBA's "Dancing Queen", a song which was recorded especially for their Ultimate Collection album. After a brief pause, a remix interlude is heard before Steps return to the stage for the final time to perform the encore consisting of "Tragedy".
The tour uses innovative technology such as super high-resolution video screen. The screen is used reached to by the band, including H's solo section in which he performs synchronising movements against images onscreen, and a section performed by the whole band which references rhythm games such as Just Dance .
Futuristic Intro
Salsa
Costume Change
Solos
Ballads
Costume Change
Disco
Costume Change
Encore
Costume Change
Date | City | Country | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
2 April 2012 | Belfast | United Kingdom | Odyssey Arena |
3 April 2012 | Dublin | Ireland | The O2 |
4 April 2012 | Liverpool | United Kingdom | Echo Arena Liverpool |
6 April 2012 | Glasgow | Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre | |
7 April 2012 | Aberdeen | Press & Journal Arena | |
8 April 2012 | Newcastle | Metro Radio Arena | |
10 April 2012 | Manchester | Manchester Arena | |
11 April 2012 | Nottingham | Capital FM Arena | |
12 April 2012 | Birmingham | LG Arena | |
13 April 2012 | Cardiff | Motorpoint Arena Cardiff | |
15 April 2012 | Sheffield | Motorpoint Arena Sheffield | |
16 April 2012 | Bournemouth | Bournemouth International Centre | |
17 April 2012 | Brighton | The Brighton Centre | |
19 April 2012 | London | The O2 Arena | |
20 April 2012 | |||
22 April 2012 | Newcastle | Metro Radio Arena | |
23 April 2012 | Paisley | Braehead Arena | |
25 April 2012 | Birmingham | LG Arena | |
26 April 2012 | Manchester | Manchester Arena | |
27 April 2012 | Sheffield | Motorpoint Arena Sheffield | |
6 July 2012 [A] | Cork | Ireland | The Docklands |
7 July 2012 | Hamilton | United Kingdom | Hamilton Park Racecourse |
19 July 2012 | Rochester | Rochester Castle | |
20 July 2012 | St Osyth | The Venue | |
21 July 2012 | Newton-le-Willows | Haydock Park Racecourse | |
22 July 2012 [C] | Gloucestershire | Westonbirt Arboretum | |
28 July 2012 | Isle of Wight | Osborne House | |
25 August 2012 | Suffolk | Newmarket Racecourse | |
26 August 2012 | Swansea | Singleton Park | |
27 August 2012 [D] | Northop | Deeside College | |
8 July 2012 | Leeds | Harewood House | Part of MFest | Cancelled [8] |
11 July 2012 | London | Hyde Park | Hit Factory Live | Cancelled [9] |
Venue | City | Tickets sold / available | Gross revenue |
---|---|---|---|
The O2 Arena | London | 26,926 / 30,540 (88%) | $1,754,830 [10] |
Manchester Arena | Manchester | 9,516 / 10,715 (89%) | $563,605 [11] |
During the autumn of 2011, Sky Living broadcast 'Steps Reunion', which documented the group's initial reconciliation. The show proved to be extremely successful, as it gained 1.3 million viewers each week throughout the series. [12] Following the success of 'Steps Reunion', Sky Living broadcast 'Steps: On The Road Again', which started on Monday 23 April and ends on Monday 28 May. The show documents the band throughout the creation and development of the Ultimate Tour, including dance rehearsals, costume fittings, promotion interviews and the pre-tour performance at London's G-A-Y nightclub.
The concerts performed at Liverpool Echo Arena, Manchester Arena, The first Birmingham's LG Arena Show, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena and London O2 Arena, were all recorded for a Live CD release teamed up with Concert Live. [13] The 3-disc set comes with choreographed videos, exclusive interviews and rehearsal footage, as well as never-before-seen photographs of the band. A new edition of the 'Ultimate Collection' was released on 30 April 2012, entitled 'Ultimate Collection: Tour Edition'. [14] On Monday 28 May, Sky Living It are showing a 1-hour programme showing footage from Step's sold out concerts at The O2 Arena in London before the release of The Ultimate tour Live DVD on 29 October 2012. It charted at number one on the Official Charts Company's Music Video Chart on 4 November 2012
The tour proved to be extremely popular amongst fans as the initial UK dates sold out in the first few hours of their general release. [15] 100,000 tickets are claimed to have been sold when the tour officially went on sale, making it one of the most popular tours of the year. [16]
The tour received fairly positive reviews, [17] [18] [19] with positive critiques of their general energy and interaction with the crowd and praise over Claire's rendition of Celine Dion's 'I Surrender'. The overall reception by fans was extremely positive. [20]
Ian Watkins, known by his stage name H, is a Welsh singer and actor. He is known as a member of the British pop group Steps.
Steps are a British dance-pop group consisting of Lee Latchford-Evans, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Ian "H" Watkins. Steps were formed in May 1997 and achieved two number-one albums in the UK, 14 consecutive UK top-5 singles including two number ones, and a string of hits across Europe. The group has sold over 22 million records worldwide in addition to acquiring a BRIT Award nomination in 1999 for Best Newcomer while supporting Britney Spears on tour the same year. When Richards and Watkins departed to form a recording duo, the group disbanded on 26 December 2001. Their penultimate single reached number five in the UK charts while their final album of greatest hits, Gold (2001), was the group's second number-one album in the UK.
Lisa Scott-Lee is a Welsh singer and member of the pop group Steps, formed in 1997. Scott-Lee signed a record deal with Mercury Records and launched a solo career in 2003, achieving only minor success after the release of debut single "Lately". She was dropped after her second solo single. She released her debut solo album Never or Now in 2007 through Concept Records.
A1 is a British-Norwegian boy group formed in 1998. The original line-up consisted of Paul Marazzi, Christian Ingebrigtsen, Mark Read and Ben Adams. Ingebrigtsen is originally from Oslo, Norway, while the other members originate from London.
Faye Louise Tozer is an English singer, dancer, and actress, best known as a member of British pop group Steps.
Gold: Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album released by British pop group Steps. It was released in 2001 and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. The lead single from the album was "Chain Reaction", a cover of the Diana Ross hit; the Steps' version reached number 2 in the UK Singles chart and was the group's highest selling single since "Say You'll Be Mine/Better The Devil You Know". The second single from the album, the slow ballad "Words Are Not Enough", was released with a cover of "I Know Him So Well", from ABBAmania. The single was notably Steps' first single to have an accompanying video that was almost fully animated and did not feature a dance routine like their video for "Heartbeat". The single reached number 5 in the UK charts and was their lowest-selling single to date. A release for "Baby Don't Dance" was planned for 2002 but was scrapped due to the group's split although promotional copies surfaced before the release of The Last Dance.
Lee Latchford-Evans is an English singer, dancer, stage actor and one of the five singers of the British pop group Steps.
Claire Richards is an English singer who is best known for being in the pop group Steps. As a solo artist, Richards has released two studio albums: her debut, My Wildest Dreams, was released in 2019 and Euphoria, a covers album, was released in 2023.
Showgirl: Homecoming Tour was the ninth concert tour by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, in support of her second major greatest hits compilation, Ultimate Kylie (2004). The tour began on 11 November 2006 in Sydney, Australia at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and concluded on 23 January 2007 in London, England at Wembley Arena, consisting of 20 shows in Australia and 14 shows in England.
"5,6,7,8" is a song by British group Steps from their debut studio album, Step One (1998). A techno-pop and country pop song written by Barry Upton and Steve Crosby and produced by Karl Twigg, Mark Topham and Pete Waterman, it was released as their debut single in November 1997 following their formation after each group member responded to a magazine advert looking for people to audition to be in a pop band.
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The Ultimate Collection is the second greatest hits album released by pop group Steps. The album was released on 10 October 2011 through Sony Music Entertainment. The album was released to mark the tenth anniversary of the group's split back in 2001 alongside the groups reformation. The album features Steps' first recording in ten years, a cover of the ABBA hit "Dancing Queen".
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