The Reunion

Chapter 2

THE CONCERT AND TOUR BEGINS

Everyone laughed at the amazed look on my face. Here I was face to face with my favourite pop band ever. I had seen them in concert in 2001, just before they acrimoniously split. My mother had taken me and I must have been five or six. I saw them in 2012 when they got back together. I had seen them a few times over the years. They would go off and do their own things but reform a couple or so years later. And here they were in front of me. And, boy, they hadn't changed much at all in all that time.

Jude was beaming from ear to ear.

'Did you know about this?' I asked.

'Oh, yes,' she replied.

'And you managed to keep it a secret?'

'We had to make her sign the officials secret act,' joked Tony.

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I spent the next hour talking to Steps as if they were my closest friends in the world. They were brilliant. They were a breath of fresh air in the 1990s and early into the new millennium. Successful comebacks in 2012 and 2017. Arena tours in the 2020s, 30s and 40s until their "retirement" in 2047, two years ago, which was their 50th anniversary tour.

It was Graham, Parveen and Samantha who had managed to coax them out of retirement. Graham had first muted Steps as a support act very early on and they had approached them. The initial response was not encouraging. However, the three continued trying to negotiate with the band members until they had a breakthrough about four months ago. Steps would not agree to being a support act but would agree to performing two or three of the songs on stage with Ladies and Gentlemen. Graham, Parveen and Samantha knew that this would be the best they could hope for and it was agreed by all parties. Ladies and Gentlemen were over the moon about the deal. They would be performing live on stage with their favourite band ever. Steps were rescued from me when they had to get ready. We were discussing the possibility of me writing an authorised biography of the group and they were eager to keep this idea going so we all agreed that we would meet up prior to the next concert in Cardiff.

After they had gone Jude sidled up to me. 'You look like the cat who got the cream,' she said.

'I feel like it,' I replied.

'You do realise that you were speaking gibberish for the first quarter of an hour?' Jude smiled.

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'I can't believe that you managed to keep it a secret,' I said. 'How long have you known?'

'Parveen told me about three weeks ago,' she replied. 'Happy anniversary, darling.'

An hour to go before curtains up, the atmosphere got really tense. Tony and Graham were getting ready in one dressing room while the girls were getting ready in another. It was agreed that they would kick off the evening in their matching suits. They had gone for a glittering purple this time. Each member of the group had a solo instrumental section and they were going to change into more casual attire. Both Graham and Tony went for a short-sleeve shirt design with long matching coloured trousers. The girls had gone for a similar look. They were currently having their hair styled and make up done. Again, they were not speaking to each other.

It was also tense in the green room. Jude and myself were sat together.

Parveen came and joined us.

'How are you feeling?' Jude asked.

'Sick,' Parveen replied. 'I am so nervous for them. I hope everything goes okay.'