Take That wow crowds June 24, 2009
REVIEW: TAKE THAT
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Lancashire County Cricket Club
BOUNCING on to the stage like the clouds of helium-filled balloons that circle the air above them, homecoming heroes Take That are back in town.
And this time they’ve brought the whole circus with them for this, their first of five sold-out nights at Old Trafford.
With huge cheers echoing around Lancashire County Cricket ground, our fab four of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Jason Orange, are lovingly embraced by the hometown crowd as the opening strains of Greatest Day ring out.
It couldn’t be a more apt show opener, for the 50,000 adoring fans packing into Old Trafford.
Even the sun decided to come out for the occasion after a rain-soaked day. “Manchester, your boys are home,” screams Mark Owen before launching into
Could It Be Magic. The fans lapped it up and everyone was in the mood for a party.
For their part, the lads have thrown everything bar the kitchen sink into making this Circus Live tour their most incredible to date. They’ve got quite a reputation to live up to – every tour yet has managed to outdo the one before.
Incredible
Here, they top it all with, well, a Big Top. The lads have wrung every last element out of their circus theme, taken, of course, from the title of their latest album, the second studio recording since their comeback in 2005.
We’re treated to everything from trapeze artists, contortionists, high-wire walkers and clowns streaming on to the stage. In the most spectacular part of the show, the lads step into a magician’s cabinet which rises high into the air – then you realise they’re actually astride a huge mechanical elephant.
What other British pop band could dream up a spectacle like that? They even impress with their own circus skills – Jason, Howard and Mark expertly unicycling down the central stage, only for Gary to steal the scene with his tiny comedy bike with stabilisers.
All the theatrics are worked cleverly into different vignettes in this humdinger of a show, with the lads easing effortlessly between their 90s hits like Pray and comeback favourites like Shine and Up All Night.
Interestingly they ditch the Beatles medley that has been a mainstay of recent tours for a romp through their own early hits instead.
Eye-popping finale
Dressed in clown gear, they ham it up with 90s-style dance grooves to the likes of Promises, It Only Takes A Minute and Take That And Party. An eye-popping finale is guaranteed with fan favourite Never Forget played out with a marching band of drummer boys.
The lads conclude proceedings dressed, rather fittingly, as ringmasters of their own special circus to lead the crowds in a mass dance-along to Relight My Fire and Jason paid tribute to all the Manchester fans, saying: “It really means a lot to be back.”
Just when you think they can’t pull anything else out of the bag, out come the fireworks for a spine-tingling singalong to Rule the World.
An estimated £10m was lavished on this tour, and it’s not hard to see where the money has gone. One thing’s for sure – you’re never going to feel short- changed at a Take That gig.
Dianne Bourne
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news...._crowds
