 High
temperature was the name of the game as The Saturdays
brought their first headline ‘Work’
tour to a sunny Swindon. Fans queued around the
Oasis Leisure Centre in a sweltering July heat
to see Una, Mollie, Frankie, Vanessa and Rochelle
strut their stuff.
The buzz of excitement of around 1500 excited
teens (mostly girls) and their parents, made for
an exciting atmosphere as they talked of favourites,
and what outfits the girls might be wearing. Inside
the venue there was still no respite from the
heat with a lack of air conditioning or any fans
to cool the all seated crowd, who made the most
of their £10 programmes to cool themselves
down.
As usual at The oasis, entry was well organised
with the main hall filling up quickly and security
staff chatty and friendly.
The show kicked off on time with Support from
Mini Viva, consisting of two girls from the Northeast,
Britt & Frankee and one of the most exciting
new DJ’s in the country, DJ WM.
He’s only 20 and has already won the CK
ONE Champion for London. When he was 16 he bagged
the ‘Young DJ of the Year’.
 DJ WM was therefore a natural choice to join
the girls on tour, their “Sweet, sassy sounds
and neat beats and musical treats” was well
received by the crowd and their interaction brought
the youngsters to their feet to dance, some running
to the stage to shake hands with the girls.
Main support came from Pixie Lott, a perfectly
packaged 18 year old in a sequined body suit.
Her first song was ‘Turn Up’ which
immediately got the crowd to it feet, this was
followed by an acoustic version of ‘use
Somebody’ by Kings Of Leon, and another
cover, ’Isn’t She Lovely’. Don’t
be fooled, these were no karaoke style performances
but belted out with the depth and maturity of
a soul diva. The young crowd were totally sucked
in by now and her own first big hit ‘mama
Do’ was a real pleaser.
Pixie was a refreshing, vibrant and enthusiastic
perfomer and left me feeling a little disgruntled
that permission wasn’t granted to photograph
her. Regardless, I think we’re going to
be seeing a lot more of Pixie Lott in the future.
By now the venue was truly alive, and incredibly
hot, the doors were opened to allow some fresh
air in but I was sweating buckets before the girls
even hit the stage. I was pleased and somewhat
surprised to see a live backing band playing as
the curtain was removed, I’d wrongly assumed
the girls would be singing to a backing track.
The band were tight, talented and really added
something to the show, (for a old purist like
myself anyway).
 A long intro of ‘Up’ played before
the girls emerged on a gantry high above the stage
in front of a diamond screen. Wearing black coats
and heels they carefully made their way down the
steps to the stage singing their first song ‘If
This Is Love’. As a photographer shooting
without a crowd barrier I was taken by surprise
as hundreds of screaming pre-pubesent girls ran
towards the stage making it difficult to move
around freely to get my shots. Security were unsure
what to do, not wanting to upset them by telling
them to return to their seats, thankfully they
were gently moved back before the coats came off
to reveal several white/gold dress and hotpant
creations. The Saturdays look fantastic but more
importantly they have voices to match, ‘Set
Me Off’ and ‘Keep Her’ were
great openers but when the girls broke into ‘Just
Can’t Get Enough’ which they did for
Comic Relief 2009 the crowd behind me made themselves
heard.
‘Fall’ a ballad from their album
was a high point for me and showed the girls musical
and singing talents as well as a little of their
personalities and a further outfit change and
a cover of ‘Beggin’ by Madcon a song
the girls did in Radio 1’s Live Lounge kept
the fans screaming for more.
 Further highlights, would come in the form of
further outfit changes, a lengthy video of the
girls, (whilst they got some much needed air I’m
sure), and a cover of Rihanna’s ‘Shut
Up And Drive’ which flowed straight into
Katy Perry’s, ‘I Kissed A Girl’
and on into Pink’s, ‘So What’.
All in all a great show which managed to hold
my attention till the end, not least with the
outfits and the live band. There was plenty of
interaction, with the crowd asked to join in the
dance routine for ‘One Shot’ and a
good mix of covers and original material, including
The Saturdays latest single ‘Work’
and huge hit, Issues. They aren’t going
to break any new ground but this is pure pop sing
and dance routines, they do it well and long may
they do so.
The Saturdays 5/5
Pixie Lott 4/5
Mini Viva 4/5
Review By Scott Cole |
