Gig review: Five, Glasgow

Mock if you will, but this writer contends that there are few finer pop singles catalogues in the past couple of decades than that of self-styled bad boys Five, who are currently enjoying another spin on the boyband merry-go-round thanks to their participation in ITV2’s The Big Reunion.

5ive: Top pop tuneage. Picture: Facebook

Five - Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow

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The joke, of course, is that they should by rights now be called Four, since beefcake rapper J has declined to rejoin the party.

However, it was the absence of a tour budget rather than an original member which threatened to hobble the remaining quartet from the start. A couple of ramps, a modest staircase and a static backdrop – of what looked like piles of slate – does not a scintillating piece of pop theatre make.

Without the spectacle which accompanied the shows from their late Nineties heyday, it was down to the performers and songs to generate excitement. The songs showed up alright, with light, summery R’n’B number Got The Feeling, the groovy Grease-sampling Rock The Party, Daft Punkish slick disco track Let’s Dance and the ultra-catchy When The Lights Go Out scoring high on popcraft.

But for all their petitions to get up, get down and keep on moving, the now thirtysomething Five took their time to loosen up and enjoy themselves, initially offering rote renditions of the original choreography before going off-script to show off their playful chemistry and communicate some much-needed infectious enjoyment in their top pop tuneage.