Last night some friends and I went to see S Club 7. *pauses to allow you to laugh*. Done?
It was a total nostalgia trip as s club were the soundtrack of our university days and have stayed with us via 14 years (eek!) of wedding receptions and nights out. We clearly weren't the only ones...it was a gig with a very specific age and gender profile.
Before we left we made the mistake of looking up the ages of the group members on Wikipedia - mistake because they range from 33-38, and feeling as though they are the same age as us gave me more empathy with them than I wanted to have. Because really, it wasn't great. The dancing was energetic-ish but you could almost see the effort it took to remember the steps...highlighted by the younger troupe of dancers who were there to do the energetic stuff. They played against a backdrop of the original videos which really just reminded us of how much older they are. And the middle of the show consisted of them taking it in turns to be onstage alone...a chance to showcase individuals, maybe, but you couldn't help but imagine the rest of them flaked out backstage, catching their breath.
I kind of wanted to be able to laugh at it...but I couldn't. Who, really, in their mid 30s, could replicate the pure springiness and exuberance of their late teens? Paul is famed for "getting down on the floor"...he didn't last night, but show me a 36 year old man who can do that with any credibility! ! I think when it came down to it, they put together a show which recognised that we're 14 years on from their heyday and made the most of it. I quite enjoyed the newly sedate Paul performing Reach with an acoustic guitar, and Jo's voice has got better with age. It made me think about how well we celebrate and make use of difference, in work and life generally. I think we spend a lot of energy on maintaining youth or trying to gain experience. ..perhaps we should focus more on recognising what individuals in their current stage and circumstance bring to life & work, and celebrate that rather than rushing forward or trying to reclaim the past. If, for S Club 7, that means outsourcing your energetic dancing and building tea breaks into your gig so you have the energy to pull off Don't Stop Movin' as the encore then fair play!
I'm off to listen to some cool contemporary music now to rebuild my credibility. Er...any recommendations?!
