The Big Reunion is a 2013 series of
concerts
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or musical band, band. Concerts are held in a w ...
featuring British
pop groups
Five
5 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
5, five or number 5 may also refer to:
* AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era
* 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era
Literature
* ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram
* ''5'' (comics), an awa ...
,
911
911 or 9/11 may refer to:
Dates
* AD 911
* 911 BC
* September 11
** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001
** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende
* November 9
Numbers
* 91 ...
,
Atomic Kitten
Atomic Kitten is an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose current members are Liz McClarnon, Jenny Frost and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey and Stuart K ...
,
Honeyz
The Honeyz are a British R&B girl group, composed of members Celena Cherry and Mariama Goodman. The group had five UK top 10 hits between 1998 and 2000, with "Finally Found" (1998), " End of the Line" (1998), " Love of a Lifetime" (1999), "Ne ...
,
Liberty X
Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British-Irish group originally consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show ''Popstars' ...
and
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
, and Irish group
B*Witched
B*Witched are an Irish girl group consisting of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O'Carroll. Originally active between 1997 and 2002, they enjoyed success in both Europe and North America between 1998 and 2002, r ...
. The groups, who were big names in the UK pop music scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s, reunited for the
ITV2
ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...
reality-documentary series ''
The Big Reunion
''The Big Reunion'' is a British reality-documentary series that began airing on ITV2 on 31 January 2013. The show featured chart-topping bands who were big in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme followed ...
'' (apart from Blue, who had already been reunited since 2011), a show which follows them meeting again for the first time in a decade and rehearsing ahead of their comeback performance.
Although the bands were initially only to perform a single concert at London's
Hammersmith Apollo
The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ham ...
on 26 February 2013, high demand for tickets and the popularity of the series led to a full arena tour being announced. The arena tour consisted of 14 shows that took place during May 2013, although Blue only performed at four of these shows due to their own tour commitments. A "Big Pop Party" and a "Christmas party tour" were later announced as well. The Big Pop Party consisted of three gigs in separate months and the Christmas Party featured seven gigs in December.
Background
On 18 October 2012, it was announced that
pop groups
Five
5 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
5, five or number 5 may also refer to:
* AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era
* 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era
Literature
* ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram
* ''5'' (comics), an awa ...
,
911
911 or 9/11 may refer to:
Dates
* AD 911
* 911 BC
* September 11
** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001
** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende
* November 9
Numbers
* 91 ...
,
Atomic Kitten
Atomic Kitten is an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose current members are Liz McClarnon, Jenny Frost and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey and Stuart K ...
,
B*Witched
B*Witched are an Irish girl group consisting of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O'Carroll. Originally active between 1997 and 2002, they enjoyed success in both Europe and North America between 1998 and 2002, r ...
,
Honeyz
The Honeyz are a British R&B girl group, composed of members Celena Cherry and Mariama Goodman. The group had five UK top 10 hits between 1998 and 2000, with "Finally Found" (1998), " End of the Line" (1998), " Love of a Lifetime" (1999), "Ne ...
and
Liberty X
Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British-Irish group originally consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show ''Popstars' ...
—who were big names in the UK pop music scene in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s—would be reuniting for an
ITV2
ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...
documentary series and a comeback performance at some point in 2013.
On 21 February 2013, it was revealed that a seventh band,
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
, would be joining ''The Big Reunion'' gig as well. When asked why they chose to join ''The Big Reunion'', Blue said: "Phil Mount, ''the Big Reunion''s producer, has always been a long time supporter of the band, giving us our first TV break, he really wanted us to be surprise special guests announced halfway through the series and to perform on the Hammersmith Apollo show. This sounded like a lot of fun, giving us the perfect chance to perform together again in the UK for our fans and reconnect with the other acts, many of whom friends of ours and started out around the same time as us. For us the 'Big Reunion' is a great chance for all of us bands to come together for one BIG party on Tuesday night!"
The bands were originally only supposed to perform a one-off concert at London's
Hammersmith Apollo
The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ham ...
on 26 February 2013, but when the entire show sold out in under five minutes shortly after the premiere of the first episode on 31 January 2013, rumours circulated that the show may become a full arena tour around the UK. On 11 February, it was confirmed that, following high ticket demands and the popularity of ''The Big Reunion'', a full 12-date UK tour would be taking place from 3–14 May 2013. On 14 February shows were added in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
and
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, bringing the tour to a total of 14 shows.
[/] Blue will only be taking part in four of the 14 shows due to headlining their own arena tour.
On 27 March 2013, it was announced that the bands would perform a mini Christmas tour in December 2013.
Five, Atomic Kitten, B*Witched, 911, Honeyz and Liberty X will all be taking part, but Blue will not as they will be headlining their own comeback tour. Three additional shows were announced on 23 April 2013.
[/]
Broadcast and recordings
The original Hammersmith Apollo show in February was recorded and parts of the concert, as well as backstage footage, aired on ITV2 on 28 March 2013 as ''The Big Reunion'' finale. The full concert was also released on DVD on 1 April 2013.
Setlist
Tour dates
;Notes
:Five, Blue, and Liberty X only. Part of Newmarket Nights' "Big Pop Party"
:Blue will not be performing. Part of Butlin's "Back Together" music weekend.
:Matinee and evening concerts
Reception
Almost 4,000 people attended the sold-out show at the Hammersmith Apollo on 26 February, for which tickets sold out almost immediately after going on sale. The entire 14-date arena tour quickly sold out as well.
The arena tour has received highly positive reviews from critics. Denise Evans gave the show in Manchester on 4 May, four out of five stars. "It was like watching a ''
Smash Hits
''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...
'' Poll Winners Party of old or an episode of ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'', which ultimately is exactly what the majority people singing and dancing along in the arena wanted. A bit of nostalgia.", she said. After attending the show in Nottingham on 10 May, Jayne Garfitt of thisisnottingham.com said "When it comes to revisiting the bands of your childhood the experience tends to tread a thin line between legendary and tragic. But that was not the case with the Big Reunion Tour. From the minute 5ive stepped on stage to the opening bars of
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
's "We Will Rock You", the atmosphere at the Capital FM Arena was electric. They might all be older and wiser but there is no doubt that these bands still have what it takes – slick dance moves, catchy lyrics and a great big sense of fun. Brilliant."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Reunion
2013 concert tours