The lights dim. The video screens light up. Loud guitars blare. Emblazed in all caps: ‘THE WAIT IS OVER.’
This heart-stopping show intro is familiar to millions by now, but its tongue-in-cheek nature reveals itself a matter of moments later. There, instead of the Gallagher brothers from Oasis, are UK boy band Five – complete with the caption: ‘THE REAL COMEBACK STORY OF 2025.’
It’s a hilariously self-aware, and fittingly cheeky, way to kick off the group’s full-scale reunion show in Sydney (16 May), which marks the first time all five members have assembled down under in over a quarter-century.
They know all too well they’re not biblical, stadium-filling rock & roll stars – they’re a naff outfit who popularised gel spikes and thin goatees. Still, today is gonna be the day they’re gonna throw it back to us – and, rest assured, nobody feels the way we do about them now.
For a brief backstory to those unaware: Five has not been true to its name since initially splitting up in 2001. They reunited in 2006 without Sean Conlon, and then again in 2012 without Jason Brown.
To make matters worse, Abz Love exited the fold in 2014 – meaning that, for over a decade, Five were ‘Three’. Plenty of package nostalgia tours followed, but the math simply wasn’t mathing.
Now back at full strength, we’re not only witness to an evening of feel-good memories, but also possibly the most positive male bonding experience you’re likely to see on a stage this year.
To have these men in their mid-to-late 40s rekindle this connection they had as wily 20-somethings, singing the songs that came to shape their livelihoods, and doing it all with a literal spring in their step and ever-present Chesire-Cat grins feels like a much-needed beacon of boy-band hope.
The show rolls out as a hit parade, covering all of their best-known songs – which, it must be said, have largely held up remarkably well. ‘Got The Feelin” is as cheery and summery as its FM-radio heyday.
While the Indeep-sampling ‘If Ya Gettin’ Down’ still serves as a certified floor-filler that doesn’t shy away from its dagginess – in fact, shirts sloganeered with Abz’ infamous opening line (‘Wiggy wiggy, I’m getting’ jiggy’) are selling like hotcakes over at the merch stand.
An exceptional band holds down the fort throughout, with particular kudos to bassist Dayna J Fisher for serving as the tour’s musical director and giving these tracks the exact kind of spark and pop that a mere backing track could never truly replicate.
Whether it’s the unexpected tease of Linkin Park’s ‘One Step Closer’ into ‘Lay All Your Lovin’ On Me’ or the roller-disco groove of ‘Let’s Dance’, Fisher and co. prove to be a versatile backbone to the whole operation.
By the time the inevitable finale of ‘Keep On Movin” rolls around, the impact of what’s transpired in the room is undeniable.
The girls (by majority, at least) who had posters of these boys on their walls are now women watching these men perform – and both, in their own way, are being healed by the process.
Yes, at the end of the day it’s silly pop music. There’s always more to it, though: This is a reconciliation with a younger self – assuring them that, no matter how crazy life will get for the next 25 years, things will be OK. All we have to do, really, is keep on moving.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source scenestr.com.au ’
