Verdict: Three and a half stars.

STEPS might have been one member down when they played the Hydro tonight but that didn’t stop the pop icons from delivering on the hits.

The five-piece become four for their Glasgow performance after Faye Tozer tested positive for Covid-19 last week.

And despite an obvious rejig of choreography and vocals, Steps - including Claire Richards, Lee-Latchford Evans, Lisa Scott-Lee and Ian ‘H’ Watkins - proved to be complete professionals by putting on a spectacular display of their songs old and new.

What the Future Holds kicked the first of two Glasgow nights off before One for Sorrow had the fans recalling those dance moves that first propelled the band into the spotlight.

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Glasgow Times:

Their performance was slick, had the audience grinning from ear to ear and brought the fun factor to the Scottish fans.

Earlier, support act Sophie Ellis Bextor had her disco groove on in the Hydro.

From the Spiller banger Groovejet which launched her career to a cover of Madonna’s Like A Prayer, the singer set the tone for the evening before she delighted the crowd with her biggest hit Murder on the Dancefloor.

But the night was about Steps and the memories that the band’s music has for so many of their fans.

A mash-up of debut 5,6,7,8 with Deee-Lite’s Groove is in the Heart revamped the classic much to the audience’s delight while Diana Ross’s cover Chain Reaction which the band also released as a single proved to be a real highlight.

Steps 2:0 formed part of the setlist with songs taken from the latest album What the Future Hold Part 2 performed throughout but there was no denying that the nineties and noughties hits continued to be crowd-pleasers throughout the two-hour set.

From ballads, It’s The Way you Make Me Feel and Heartbeat to dance-pop chart-toppers Summer of Love and Stomp every era of Steps was covered.

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Glasgow Times:

And the one thing that was consistent throughout was Claire’s outstanding vocals, she was a powerhouse on some of their biggest songs especially the Kylie Minogue cover Better the Devil You Know.

Given a makeover with elements of Madonna’s Vogue, Claire was pitch-perfect as she belted through the pop hit while the monologue changed to Britney Spears, we love you to recognise the singer’s recent conservatorship legal battles sending the crowd wild before Bees Gees hit Tragedy ended the show on a high.

Next year Steps celebrate 25 years and the milestone is one the band thoroughly deserve. They deliver pop music at its best and while the jury is still out on the longevity of their new material, there is no denying their biggest hits will forever entertain.