Everybody Get Up – 5ive are back and they’re going to rock you.
For the teenyboppers of the late 90s, there was no other boyband cooler.
Teenage girls (like I was, I might add) adored 5ive’s edgy dance moves and slick song lyrics (Slam Dunk Da Funk, anyone?), so is it really any wonder?
Back in the day, 5ive well and truly earned their stripes as the ‘male Spice Girls’ and were dubbed Britain’s answer to N*Sync.
It was a mammoth task but they almost managed to fill the desolate void left by Take That, proving to be just as successful in their own right by selling over 20 million albums and eight top 10 singles.
And of course who could forget We Will Rock You – that ubiquitous collaboration with Queen which joined two generations of music together?
I remember only too well that dark day in 2001 when the boys called it a day. But thankfully that’s all in the past now, because 12 years on they’re back with a 14- date UK tour of their greatest hits.
Fresh from the huge success of this year’s Big Reunion tour and ITV series, the only thing missing this time around is bandmember J Brown.
“But you know what, it’s really not as strange without J as we thought it would be,” admits the band’s blue eyed heart-throb, Ritchie Neville.
“A lot of stuff happened there but it hasn’t held us back for this tour.
“Doing his parts wasn’t a problem at all and it just means we have more room on the stage – it’s all good!”
“On the Big Reunion tour we only got to do four songs, but now we can do an hour and a half’s worth which is great.
“We’ve got all sorts of different flavours going on; I mean of course we’re known for our up-tempo tracks but we’ve also got a soft side too which not many people realise so it’ll be nice to do those.”
But won’t it be strange performing for thousands of twenty-something women who were just teenagers last time around?
“That is a bit strange!” Ritchie giggles. “Obviously our fans are a lot older now – back then they were teenagers and young girls and now some of them are mothers!
“We remember them from back in the day and it’s crazy to think they are grown women now, but what’s just beautiful is that we’ve got new young fans who come and see us and seem to love our stuff.”
“It’s all part of the crazy year we’ve had.
“The Big Reunion was an emotional experience – more than I anticipated,” he adds.
“There was a lot of history there because 5ive was a massive life changing experience for all of us. “We got so big and it all happened so fast that I’d drawn a line under it all a long time ago but now we’re back it’s like we’re completing the circle.
“Is this tour closure? Who knows, we’ve got such a busy time ahead but right now I’m loving it – I’m absolutely loving it.”
The Greatest Hits tour comes to the Liverpool Echo Arena on November 19 and the Manchester Apollo on November 30.