Blue talk ahead of appearance at Solihull summer festival

“To be honest, mate, I’ve got no idea who else is on.”

Bless him and his honesty. There’s no fudge, no pretence, no blather about hanging out with pop star pals and looking forward to seeing everyone who’s there. He’s honest, direct and to the point. “’Aven’t got a clue.”

So allow us to fill you in. The Solihull Summer Fest takes place on August 25 and 26 and features a smorgasbord of pop stars past and present. The first day will feature artists from 10CC and Sister Sledge to Blue and Alesha Dixon. There will also be a supporting cast led by Fine Young Cannibal Roland Gift and a bunch of tribute artists paying homage to the likes of George Michael and Ed Sheeran.

The following day features Busted and Razorlight with sets from Lightning Seeds, The Beat and Sugar Hill Gang. Tickets are available from www.solihullsummerfest.co.uk.

The show is one of many summer events for Blue – aka Anthony Costa, Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe. Their careers have evolved over time so that they get to play occasional festival shows and short-run tours while also holding down gigs in pantomime, on TV soaps, reality shows and more.

Anthony says being a member of Blue is one of the best jobs in the world – as well as being one of the hardest.

“It’s about having ups and downs. If everything was Champagne and skittles all the time, it wouldn’t be real life. But I’ve loved it. It was all I ever wanted to do.”

Band members do as they wish, taking jobs to pay the rent while keeping their hombres informed so that there are no fixture clashes.

“There’s no rules. There’s no ‘you can’t be seen to be doing that’ between each other. We’re entertainers and we have acting backgrounds like myself. It’s good to be able to a portfolio career. It’s about performing and enjoying yourself. Every crowd is different though and at Solihull we’re just a part of a line-up that’ll rocking the day . . . Hopefully.”

Blue, of course, were one of the biggest pop acts of the new Millennium. Their debut single All Rise reached number four on the UK chart while a series of number one hits followed, including Too Close and If You Come Back. Their debut album sold 1.8 million copies in the UK and their second album, One Love, also went to number one. They amassed some 15 million record sales before deciding to split after Elton John told them their popularity was decreasing and they should concentrate on their solo careers.

Though the band appeared to enjoy overnight success, their triumphs were, in fact, a long time coming. “I grafted mate. I grafted since I was 12-13. I worked hard. When Blue came about we took it with both hands and didn’t take anything for granted. We love what we do and are so pleased to still be working, that’s the truth of it.”

Blue’s route to the summit was born of hard work, rather than the sort of here-today-gone-tomorrow success enjoyed by reality stars.

Anthony says things have changed and he’s glad to have come up through the ranks. “I’m not taking it away from reality TV stars. Good luck to the bands and the solo artists who use that route. It’s a hard business. But I’ll be honest, I’ve no envy for them. For me, it was all about learning my trade. If I was doing it again, I’d do it the same way. I’m not saying I wouldn’t give reality TV a go, but I’m pleased we did it the old school way.

“We were the last generation of pre-reality TV pop stars. When Blue came out, the radio stations didn’t know us. Our pluggers gave stations like Capital, Heart and Magic our record and we had to work. There was one chart and we got to the top. Now there’s 10,000 charts. We’re very humble as people and as a band.”

All Rise was the song that changed Blue’s lives. Remarkably, the band members didn’t like it. They hated the way it was recorded and the way the producers made them sing it. “I’m not saying anything that’s not already out there. It says it all in the book. We didn’t like it because we weren’t those sort of singers. But the head of the record company loved it. When he told us it was going to be the single, we looked at each other and our faces dropped. We hated it.”

l For details visit www.solihullsummerfest.co.uk