S Club have paid tribute to late member Paul Cattermole during the opening night of their reunion tour, describing him as a “brother”. Check out footage from the show below.

The gig took place at Manchester’s AO Arena last night (October 12), and was described as a preview to the pop group’s first reunion tour in eight years.

As well as playing classic tracks including ‘Don’t Stop Moving’, ‘Have You Ever’ and ‘Reach’, the members all took time throughout the show to pay tribute to longtime member Cattermole, who died shortly after the live concerts were announced.

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“That’s our brother right there, man,” said Bradley McIntosh as a montage of images of Cattermole was shown (via BBC News). “Gone but you’ll never be forgotten. We miss you every single day.”

Cattermole died in April at the age of 46, due to an underlying heart condition. The news of his passing arrived just weeks after the group – formerly known as S Club 7 – announced a live comeback to mark their 25th anniversary.

Following the announcement, Cattermole’s bandmate and former girlfriend Hannah Spearritt dropped out of the tour, leaving five of the original seven members to go on under the new name ‘S Club’.

Last night’s show was officially billed as a preview of the ‘Good Times’ tour to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation.

At one part of the gig, the members left the stage as a video of Paul singing ‘Good Times’ was played. From there, they reappeared in black sequinned outfits and joined him for the vocals at the end of the track, before paying individual tributes.

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“Thank you so much [for] all the messages and love and support you’ve all shown all of us and to Paul’s family,” said Jo O’Meara, per BBC News. “We are so grateful for every single one of you.”

Jon Lee added: “Thank you so much, it’s very special for us this evening obviously, we dedicate this performance to Paul and to the British Heart Foundation so thank you so much for being here.

Rachel Stevens said: “Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for all the love and support, all the incredible messages you’ve sent through this time, and all your support always. We love you so much.”

Tina Barrett also paid tribute, stating: “Thank you so much Manchester. Tonight is a celebration so let’s bring it all back for Paul.”

S Club then broke into a rendition of their 1999 debut single ‘Bring It All Back’. Find more footage from the show below.

The tour will resume in Liverpool tonight (October 13), and from there, the five-piece will embark on more UK dates including three shows at The O2 in London. Find all dates and any remaining tickets here.

In three-star review of last night’s opening concert, NME described the performance as having the “perky optimism of their Y2K heyday and genuinely touching tributes to their late bandmate”.

“The staging is cheap and cheerful by modern pop show standards: there are no backing dancers, let alone a band, and the pre-recorded visuals playing on the screen behind them are pretty perfunctory,” it read. “This places focus firmly on the well-drilled band members and their oh-so-2002 dance routines, which adds to the time capsule vibe.”

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