Party on the Dancefloor Tour

The Party on the Dancefloor Tour was the eighth concert tour by British group Steps. It was launched in support of their fifth studio album, Tears on the Dancefloor (2017) and its subsequent deluxe edition. It began on 12 November 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the SSE Arena and concluded on 10 December 2017 in Cardiff, Wales at the Motorpoint Arena. The tour was first announced in March 2017, consisting of dates in Europe.

Party on the Dancefloor Tour
Tour by Steps
Promotional poster for the tour
Associated albumTears on the Dancefloor and Crying at the Disco
Start date12 November 2017 (2017-11-12)
End date10 December 2017 (2017-12-10)
Legs1
No. of shows1 in the Republic of Ireland
21 in the United Kingdom
22 in total
Supporting act(s)Vengaboys
Max Restaino
Attendance250,000
WebsiteSteps Official - Live Events
Steps concert chronology

Background

Steps reunited in 2011 for a four-part documentary series produced by Sky Living.[1] It predominantly explored their highly publicised and acrimonious split on Boxing Day in 2001, as well as revealing what each member had been doing during the previous ten years and the truth, causes and effects of their disbandment.[1] It further showed how they could repair their professional, and personal, relationships as a five-piece for the release of their second greatest hits album, The Ultimate Collection (2011), and formal discussions of officially reforming.[1] The positive response to the album led to the announcement of a reunion arena tour, The Ultimate Tour, in April 2012,[2] and their fourth studio/first Christmas album, Light Up the World, later that year. On 28 November 2016, it was revealed that Steps would be reuniting for a New Year's Eve performance G-A-Y to celebrate twenty years since their debut.[3]

On 6 March 2017, Steps confirmed that their fifth studio album, Tears on the Dancefloor, would be released on 21 April in the United Kingdom and be preceded by the lead single, "Scared of the Dark", on 10 March; they also announced the accompanying Party on the Dancefloor Tour for November and December 2017.[4][5][6] The album, which peaked at number-two on the UK Albums Chart, number-one on the UK Independent Albums Chart and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments exceeding 60,000 three weeks after its release,[7][8][9] generated two additional singles, "Story of a Heart" and "Neon Blue".[10] On 18 September 2017, Steps announced that the album would be reissued on 27 October with five new songs, including a Christmas track, as well as previously unreleased remixes, and called Tears on the Dancefloor: Crying at the Disco.[11]

Tickets

The Party on the Dancefloor Tour was the group's first series of concerts since their Christmas with Steps tour in December 2012. The announcement confirmed that it would be visiting various conference halls, exhibition centres and arenas in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, kicking off at the only date for the former at the 3Arena in Dublin on 13 November and fourteen dates across the latter before concluding at Manchester Arena in Manchester on 2 December; it also includes two dates in London at The O2 Arena and Wembley Arena on 24 and 25 November, respectively.[6][12] Pre-sale tickets went on sale on 7 March, with general sale tickets going on sale three days later on 10 March, and were made available to purchase through AXS and Ticketmaster,[13] with ticket prices ranging from £37.36 to £113.30 including service charges and administration fees.[12]

On 13 March, the group added five more dates to revisit Belfast, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool and Glasgow. The tickets for the five additional dates were made available for pre-sale the following day and released for general sale on 16 March, increasing from fifteen to twenty tour dates.[14][15] Two more dates were later added to revisit Cardiff and Birmingham on 9 and 10 November, respectively, bringing the total tour dates to twenty-two.

Critical reception

For the opening night concert in Belfast, Sarah Scott writing for Belfast Live awarded the show four out five stars.[16] She wrote that the group were "back with a bang" and noted the positive audience reaction to "5,6,7,8", commenting that "fans went crazy for the old school classic in such a manner you would think it was still in the charts."[16] Scott praised the support act the Vengaboys and said that the tour served as a reminder that Steps should never have disbanded.[16] She concluded by writing that although fans knew they would have a good night, it was better than she expected it to be.[16]

For the concert at 3Arena in Dublin, Louise Bruton writing for The Irish Times awarded the show five out of five stars.[17] Describing it as one of the best pop concerts of the year and likening the high production values to those of Kylie Minogue, Bruton noted that Steps sang live throughout the show and that each band member "a chance to show off".[17] She added that small touches such as Ian "H" Watkins being partnered with a male dancer and the group embracing each other during their rendition of "Heartbeat" considering that they were not on speaking terms in 2009 "shows how far they've come."[17] Bruton concluded by writing that for a pop band "to survive the 1990s is one thing but for a pop group to come back 20 years later with a top-10 album and a slick tour like this is little short of a miracle," and called the church wedding procession during the closing song "Tragedy" the "best thing ever."[17]

Set list

The following set list is representative of the show in Newcastle at the Metro Radio Arena on 20 November 2017. It may not represent the setlist from all of the shows.[18]

  1. "Scared of the Dark"
  2. "Deeper Shade of Blue"
  3. "Chain Reaction"
  4. "Happy"
  5. "Stomp"
  6. "Better Best Forgotten" / "Last Thing on My Mind" (Medley)
  7. "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" / "No More Tears on the Dancefloor" (Medley)
  8. "Dancing with a Broken Heart"
  9. "When I Said Goodbye"
  10. "5,6,7,8"
  11. "Better the Devil You Know"
  12. "It's the Way You Make Me Feel"
  13. "Heartbeat"
  14. "Story of a Heart"
  15. "Summer Of Love" / "Paradise Lost" / "Despacito" (Medley)
  16. "Neon Blue"
  17. "Love U More" / "You'll Be Sorry" / "After the Love Has Gone" (Medley)
  18. "Love's Got a Hold on My Heart"
  19. "One for Sorrow"

Encore

  1. "Tragedy"

Shows
List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening acts, tickets sold, number of available tickets and gross revenue
Date City Country Venue Opening acts Attendance Revenue
Europe[6][19]
12 November 2017 Belfast Northern Ireland SSE Arena Max Restaino
Vengaboys		 — —
13 November 2017 Dublin Ireland 3Arena — —
14 November 2017 Belfast Northern Ireland SSE Arena — —
16 November 2017 Glasgow Scotland The SSE Hydro — —
17 November 2017 Aberdeen GE Oil and Gas Arena — —
18 November 2017 Liverpool England Echo Arena — —
20 November 2017 Newcastle Metro Radio Arena — —
21 November 2017 Leeds First Direct Arena — —
23 November 2017 Brighton Brighton Centre — —
24 November 2017 London The O2 Arena 14,412 / 14,759 $870,010
25 November 2017 Wembley Arena — —
27 November 2017 Bournemouth Bournemouth International Centre — —
28 November 2017 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena — —
29 November 2017 Cardiff Wales Motorpoint Arena — —
1 December 2017 Birmingham England Barclaycard Arena — —
2 December 2017 Manchester Manchester Arena 23,383 / 25,234 $1,290,530
3 December 2017
5 December 2017 Newcastle Metro Radio Arena — —
6 December 2017 Liverpool Echo Arena — —
7 December 2017 Glasgow Scotland The SSE Hydro 11,027 / 11,190 $603,840
9 December 2017 Birmingham England Genting Arena — —
10 December 2017 Cardiff Wales Motorpoint Arena Cardiff — —
Total 48,822 / 51,183 (95%) $2,764,380


References
  1. Eamses, Tom (21 July 2011). "Steps to reunite for Sky Living documentary series". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  2. Copsey, Robert (11 October 2011). "Steps announce first arena tour in ten years". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  3. Copsey, Robert (28 November 2016). "Steps are reuniting for a New Year's Eve gig to celebrate their 20th anniversary". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  4. White, Jack (6 March 2017). "Steps announce comeback album Tears on the Dancefloor to commemorate their 20th anniversary". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  5. Bourne, Diane (6 March 2017). "Steps are coming to Manchester Arena - here's how to get tickets". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  6. Reed-Dominiguez, Jennifer (6 March 2017). "Steps confirm comeback with new album and a national tour". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  7. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 28 April 2017 - 04 May 2017". Official Charts Company. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  8. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  9. Kelly, Warren (5 October 2017). "Q4 Week: Inside Absolute's Q4 schedule". Music Week. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  10. Villa, Lucas (20 September 2017). "Listen: Steps takes on Delta Goodrem's 'Dancing With a Broken Heart'". AXS. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  11. Copsey, Rob (18 September 2017). "Steps to re-release their latest album Tears On The Dancefloor with five new songs". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 19 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  12. Rodgers, James (10 March 2017). "Steps reunion tour tickets are out today - how to get them". Coventry Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  13. Dalziel, Magdalene (6 March 2017). "Steps are coming to Glasgow and here's how to get tickets". Glasgow Live. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  14. "Tragedy: Steps add extra date to comeback tour in Belfast due to demand". Belfast Telegraph. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  15. Duke, Simon (13 March 2017). "Steps add second Newcastle date on Party on the Dancefloor tour - how to get tickets". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  16. Scott, Sarah (13 November 2017). "Prepare for a night of pure cheesy pop nostalgia with Steps". Belfast Live. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  17. Bruton, Louise (13 November 2017). "Steps review: A triumph with a Tragedy". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  18. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/steps-newcastle-arena-tour-review-13930799
  19. Boxscores:
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