B*Witched / Atomic Kitten / Liberty X
3rd February 2017
ASB Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand
Review by Sarah Kidd, Photography by Brad Holland.
Nostalgia; it’s a funny thing. That desire to return to a former time in one’s life. So it was no surprise when it was announced that B*Witched would be coming to New Zealand along with Atomic Kitten etc., that there was much excitement amongst the 25-35yr age group.
There is a real party atmosphere upon walking into the theatre. The entire venue is bathed in blue light and the mainly female audience are dressed for the occasion and most are well liquored up. The stage – looking despairingly bare – has a single small DJ table set up towards the back where DJ Lemons “Coming to you all the way from 1999!” is happily spinning generic pop songs of the era, getting the crowd warmed up for the impending show. Despite his obvious youth and inexperience, he did well to keep the crowd entertained. After what seemed like a rather long wait for the first act, DJ Lemons – who it seems is performing dual duties of the night as MC – announces the arrival of Liberty X.
Originally formed in 2001 from the leftover finalists who failed to make the grade from the talent show Popstars, the group have gone through a few changes over the years and now consist of only three members. Wearing matching skin tight black outfits and carrying black canes, Kelli, Jessica and Michelle, arrived to raucous applause. While the dance moves were a little stilted and the vocals rather pitchy, hit song ‘Just a Little’ was still catchy enough to get the crowd singing along. Liberty X thanked the audience and announced how happy they were to be here and then moved straight into their single ‘Being Nobody’. And like that they were gone. Two songs hardly seemed worth the effort.
Once again the resident DJ (who never left the desk the entire night, a little distracting when he was obviously superfluous to requirements during the acts) spun some tunes and kept the crowd dancing. But then he started to spin SClub 7 songs, a rather strange choice one would think, considering that the group (now called SClub 3, due to a reduction in members) were about to arrive. Sure enough after two to three tracks, two of the members arrived on stage to almost overwhelming screams. Dressed in their stage outfits, Bradley McIntosh & Tina Barrett, thanked the audience and then announced that due to Jo O’Meara having food poisoning they would be unable to perform tonight. The large number of fans wearing SClub 3 t-shirts, looked bitterly disappointed, but as Bradley and Tina left the stage, DJ Lemons spun their hit single ‘Reach’, and the fans decided to sing and dance their cares away in the aisles regardless.
The night was painfully slowly moving towards the two biggest drawcards of the night, who surely – after what had so far been a rather disappointing start to the show – would be able to bring it all back.
Atomic Kitten arrived to much fanfare. And it appeared there was a familiar face amongst the ranks, as Michelle Heaton of Liberty X walked out with them. The audience would later be informed that while Liz McClaron is still the third member of the group, Michelle Heaton was playing the part of “honorary kitten” for the Australia/NZ tour as Liz has a terrible fear of flying. Natasha Hamilton and Kerry Katona; along with their adopted ‘kitten’ of the night, leapt straight into one of their early hits ‘Right Now’. Dressed in rather opposing outfits (Kerry looked like she would be more at home side stage at a Motley Crue show), the ladies carried out the routine dance moves on what was still a disappointingly bare stage, with very basic lighting (were the budget cut backs really that severe??) And yes, DJ Lemons is still there in the background, but it appears that he is now amusing himself by taking selfie videos for his Snapchat.
Atomic Kitten continued to work through a short list of their hit singles, including popular covers ‘Eternal Flame’ and ‘Tide is High’ occasionally pausing between tracks to joke with the audience or gush over local attractions. It was clear from the outset that Natasha Hamilton certainly carries the group in regards to vocal strength, and she looked far more at ease then the rest of the members. While they certainly seemed to give it their best, the combination of Katona and Heaton made the whole set feel more like a night of bad karaoke than anything else.
Yet another lengthy interlude of DJ entertainment and the main act of the night were upon us. B*Witched were well known for their somewhat cutesy Irish charm, and dance routines, with their hit single ‘C’est la Vie’ propelling them to world fame in the late nineties. As the ladies bounced out onto the stage it was once again evident that Auckland was being short-changed with yet another incomplete act. Lindsey Armaou had dropped out at the last minute due to ‘personal reasons’. The dance routines, especially the one for Rollercoaster, were cheesy and seemed to require a little more rehearsal time as there were a couple of near misses. Due to them being the main act, the budget must have been slightly (emphasis on slightly) increased as the back curtain had been raised and there was now a muted colour backdrop along with a few more coloured spotlights.
And yes, DJ Lemons is still in the same place.
While they certainly were upbeat, B*Witched’s set felt weirdly out of sync, with audience sing offs and ‘let’s imitate an Irish accent’ games punctuating their set in all the wrong places. Out of all the acts tonight, B*Witched are the only group to have released any new material in recent years. Their set included two tracks off the extended play album ‘Champagne or Guinness’ released in 2014, and while they were the standard pop fair, it was pretty clear that the majority of the audience were there for that aforementioned ‘nostalgia’ of their older hits.
After an unwarranted encore of ‘Blame it on the Weatherman’ the ladies exited the stage, leaving DJ Lemons to serenade the audience one last time before the house lights were abruptly raised. While it was obvious that the majority of the fans there tonight enjoyed themselves (those bar takings would have been impressive) it was evident that the past should sometimes be left exactly where it is.
Were you there at ASB Theatre to witness this nostalgic show? Or have you seen B*Witched somewhere else before? Tell me about it in the comments below!
Atomic Kitten Setlist:
- Right Now
- It’s Ok
- Be With You
- Eternal Flame [cover]
- Ladies Night [cover]
- Tide is High [cover]
- Whole Again
B*Witched Setlist:
- Ces’t la Vie
- Rollercoaster
- Love & Money
- I Shall Be There
- Jump Down
- The Stars Are Ours
- Abba Medley [cover]
- To You I Belong
- Champagne or Guinness
- Jesse Hold On
- Blame it on The Weatherman