The communal joy of twenty thousand tipsy, well-meaning millennials all shouting, “Don’t stop, never give up, hold your head high and reach the top,” is cheesy and life-affirming in all the right ways. Yes; this so-called 25th anniversary “celebration” of S Club could just be a soulless cash-in for these bubblegum pop has-beens, now all in their forties: but it doesn’t feel like it. It feels like you wanna reach up for the stars.

Firstly, their voices are all sounding as good as they did in their 1998 debut. While they must be miming for some of it, there are multiple portions where they are definitely singing live — riffing and belting to the funky, funky beat, as one could only dream. All five radiate energy from their perfectly-synced choreography, mostly consisting of punching up and down. Ah, yes: the nineties.

Sadly, S Club 7 is now S Club 5. Paul Cattermole sadly died of natural causes in April 2023, in the midst of preparing for the reunion tour. Hannah Spearritt, who once dated Cattermole, dropped out of the tour after news of his death. An in memoriam video reel for Cattermole feels slightly overdone: far more effective is including recorded audio of his singing in the bridge for “Reach” (2000).

It’s a short set — a tight eighty-five — and there’s no live band, or even a live DJ. But this is more than made up for by mind-blowing lighting and video design, blinding the crowd with kitsch-tastic rainbows and disco balls. The only criticism is that they leave us wanting more.

The first support act from four-piece teen vocal group Sweet Love is a bit ropey. The second support act from dance ensemble Now United is delightfully naff, and seems to go over better with the nostalgia-hungry crowd.

S Club are touring the UK and North America 13 October – 16 November 2023.