Night of stories and songs planned as Blue bring Greatest Hits tour to Halls
They're a group who, by their own admission, broke at the right time and became very successful and very popular in short order.
In the space of four years at the turn of the century, Blue sold millions of singles and albums, toured the world and won award after award, including two BRIT Awards, while songs such as "All Rise", "Flyby", “Too Close”, “One Love” and “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” were among their biggest hits.
Having gone on hiatus in 2004 for solo careers, it seemed that the group would be a footnote in history, but a triumphant return at, of all places, Eurovision in 2011 propelled the group back into the public conscience and they have enjoyed a career resurgence since.
Now, Antony Costa, Simon Webbe, Duncan James and Lee Ryan are coming to the Halls Wolverhampton on Friday, May 3 as part of their Greatest Hits theatre tour, a special and intimate show which will see them perform their best loved songs, as well as tell tales from their 24 years as a group.
Antony Costa said talking about the group was easy as he said the four members were all mates and genuinely still liked being around each other and said that's what made Blue special and made the shows special.
He said: "We are genuinely mates and I think people like to see realness on stage and having fun and having a laugh and having a giggle and we're singing the old songs and it's very nostalgic when people come to see us.
"They'll be going back to what they were doing when they were 18 or 19 and at university or were getting married if they were old enough to do so or in their 20s and then they'll bring along their kids who are also into our music and it's really great."
The show at the Halls will be the first time Blue have played in Wolverhampton, although Antony said he had experience of the city from performing at the Grand Theatre and was excited about putting on an intimate show at the Halls.
It will be a chance for fans to hear about the formation of the group in 2000, where he and Duncan James recommended Lee Ryan, then Simon Webbe was introduced and they began working together.
Antony said that they broke in at what he described as a lucky time, with some groups coming to an end and others in a different space, and said that he felt that the music was, as it still is today, the driving force for establishing them.
He said: "I think we broke at a lucky time as Five were coming to the end of their hiatus, Another Level had split, on and off, and Westlife were a completely different entity to us, so it worked right for us.
"I also think that, for us, it was more about the music and the music sold itself and we were just very lucky, and still lucky now, to be doing what we love.
"We also didn't want the image to take over and avoid the chatter of 'oh, they're got two blond guys, a dark haired guy and a black guy', so it was always about the music selling itself and I think it showed that we were onto a winner."
Antony said that the Blue sound had a lot of influences, with his own personal ones being people like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Elton John and his hero, George Michael.
That sound, described as soulful and melodic, garnered instant success with BRIT Awards in 2002 for British Breakthrough Act and 2003 for British Pop Act, as well as their albums "All Rise", "One Love" and "Guilty" all going Platinum.
They also got to perform on Top of the Pops, a show Antony said he still remembered watching as a kid and was honoured to have appeared on.
He said: "I used to look forward to Thursday nights when, before mum and dad watched Eastenders and Dallas, you had Top of the Pops on and it was where I first saw Wham and George Michael and realised I wanted to be on that stage performing.
"It was an absolute honour to be on that show, it was great fun and it's funny as I have no recollection of our first time on it as it was over so quickly because it was live, but I thought it was amazing and mum and dad would video it and you'd watch it back the next morning in the studio."
When Blue took a break at the end of 2004 to have a go at solo careers, many fans were left wondering if they'd ever see the four back together and, for the next six years, there were rumours, but nothing solid until a surprise announcement that the group would be the British entry in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest.
Antony said the experience, which saw the group finish 11th with 100 points for the song "I can" had been the hardest he'd ever worked and said that while the voting still rankled a bit, he was very proud to have represented his country.
He said: "I never thought it would the thing that brought us back together as we were only meant to take six months and ended up taking six years because we had so much on individually.
"Eurovision was a great time and, in 24 years in the business, that's the hardest 10 days I've ever worked in my life, it was really intense, 12 hour days all the way through.
"In terms of the voting, everyone knows about the political side, but what was strange was that Germany gave us no points, but the song ended up top three in their charts, so you never know what people are thinking.
"That said, it was an honour to represent my country and do something I never thought I would ever do and talk about representing my country with my three good mates."
That Eurovision appearance was the beginning of Blue part 2, with the group recording new material and enjoying the creative process more, something Antony said had been nice as there was less pressure.
He also said that the group enjoyed playing the newer songs as part of their songs, but understood that fans loved the original tracks and would expect to hear them at the shows.
He said: "Back in the day, we were under a lot of pressure as it was always an album a year and you do look back and hear some of it and feel that some of it could be better, but it was that machine of getting things out, whereas now, there are no rules.
"There's no 'you have to do this' or release 15 songs in two months time, we've got the time as there's no pressure on us.
"With the older stuff though, it's those songs that made us who we are today and I think that while you can think 'oh, we've got to play that again', it's what people have paid money to come and see you do, so you've got to give them 110 per cent."
The memories of the last 24 years are still strong for Antony Costa, with highlights being working with Sir Elton John, playing at Wembley and living a dream that seemed a long way away playing pubs and clubs for £50 a night.
He said: "There's so many highlights, but I think winning a BRIT award is right up there as best newcomer, as well as playing Wembley on our first arena tour as I remember going past it as a boy and picturing myself on that stage, so to be on it eight years later was amazing.
"For anyone still thinking about coming to our show in Wolverhampton, I would say that you'll be able to come and relive your youth as what better way to spend an evening than with Blue on stage, singing classic songs and telling great stories."
Blue bring their Greatest Hits tour to University of Wolverhampton at The Civic Hall on Friday, May 3, with Whiskey and Diamonds and Max Rae.
Doors open at 7pm and tickets start at £50, with VIP packages still available.
To find out more and to buy tickets, go to axs.com/uk/events/505434/blue-tickets?skin=thehallswolverhampton
