TAKE That have unveiled their spectacular Circus tour - and promised their Scots fans the greatest show on earth when they play three sell-out Hampden dates this month.

Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald put on clown make-up, cavorted around on unicycles and strode the stage on a giant hydraulic elephant as they kicked off the tour at Sunderland's Stadium Of Light last night.

Promoter Geoff Ellis, who also runs T in the Park, raved: "It's the best show I've ever seen in my life and I don't say that lightly.

"This is the benchmark for the future. I can't see anybody coming close to what they have done.

"Even if you're not a Take That fan, you'll walk away saying it's the best thing you've ever seen."

Gary Barlow wants to cheer up fans with the shows.

"I think it's a bit of escape for everybody," he said. "These are the biggest and best shows we've ever done."

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/enterta....1419019

КАК я счастлива, что они завершают шоу RULE THE WORLD! Все-таки завершать надо знаковой песней, а это сто процентов знаковая песня!

First Official Fan Tour Review

Take That began their incredible UK tour last night. TakeThat.com member Paul won tickets to see the final dress rehearsal the previous night: here’s his review of the show (contains spoilers)...

Take That have done it. Delivered the best show. A visual feast. As I write this I am still at a loss for words as to how to sum this show up. Well done lads! I don’t want to reveal everything for those that are going so I will talk about my personal highlights.

In Take That tradition, the opener is amazing. A fantastic build up of anticipation, tension and excitement. The music is childlike yet incredibly haunting. Clowns, balloons and an air balloon man flood the B stage with sky blue and white colours. There are two stages, yes two! At the end of the evening it feels like they spend an equal amount on both stages which is great for everyone. The music builds to a climax and then…
The familiar piano chords of Greatest Day strikes up. Take That are revealed. Everyone goes crazy. Gary, Mark, Jason and Howard sing and the stadium follows along.
They stay on the B stage till The Garden, then out of the B stage emerges this mammoth sized elephant with humans acting as its joints and body parts. Hard to describe but breathtaking as Take That stand on top and the elephant makes its way to the main stage. If you’re near the elephant be prepared to get wet!

The main stage set is great and as your gaze shifts from the elephant to the stage you are greeted by more dancers and circus performers. The boys come back on in white and red circus themed outfits. They next section of the show is they sing as a band each playing live instruments. Jason and Mark sing two songs in this section, Mark seemed like he had some technical trouble with hearing the music but sang and played well. Jason sings really well and you can hear how much he has developed from the last tour. I thought Gary sang The Circus really well and was a vocal highlight for me. He was accompanied by a tight rope walker walking through the stadium with no safety net. I thought the song and the rope walker worked really well together.

Howard also sings What is Love and is equally impressive, he seems incredibly relaxed despite singing such a song that builds into some really high notes. I thought the theatrics during this song was brilliant. As they sing, they paint their own faces and become clowns. They then go back to their roots (Take That and Party) and do a medley of all the dance singles. The choreography is still the same and the guys poke fun at their own boy band days.

Relight is fantastically produced and the biggest number of the night in terms of production. The costumes are loud, the guys and dancers do an amazing job. As an encore they do Hold up a Light. Everyone goes crazy and I think this would make a great next single as it makes everyone so happy. Mark sings it really well and he looks great as he struts across the stage. The evening finished with the beautiful Rule the World and it’s just the guys on stage.

There is so much I could write but I don’t want to reveal everything. I can still hear ‘Tonight this could be, the greatest night of our lives’. The guys are in fine voice. The song choices are right. You will see an amazing spectacle. Take That have put on their best show. You can see how much money and hard work went into the show, the crew and supporting cast are fantastic. I am not sure anyone can top this show. Other than Take That of course.

Take That are delighted by their massive UK stadium tour but admit it is nerve-wracking playing such big stadiums.

08 June 2009 08:30 AM

Take That's new tour is a "dream come true".

The 'Patience' hitmakers are currently on a UK stadium tour - which started on Friday (05.06.09) in Sunderland - and say they are delighted to be working on their biggest shows to date.

Singer Gary Barlow said: "This is like a dream come true for us. This is a massive, massive tour and not just because of the amount of people, it's the sheer size of the tour as well.

"It's probably seven or eight times bigger than anything we've done before."

Despite being excited about the concerts, the group admit they are worried about tackling such big shows.

He added: "We're quite nervous because we've put so much hard work into it. We will be doing things that have never been done on stage before and that have never even been done in concert before so we hope to lead on that."

http://entertainment.stv.tv/music/101174-take-thats-tour-dream/

TAKE That have certainly whet the apetite of fans after pictures from their new Circus-themed tour were released.
The lads started the tour in Sunderland at the weekend, and head to Manchester for a five night run from June 23.
And don't they look great in their clown get-up? They also show off their own impressive unicycling skills in the show - except Gary who was ruled out of the tricky maneouvre due to his ongoing back problems - so he gets a cute little bike with stabilisers instead!

But, I'm afraid fans hoping that the prodigal fifth member of Take That, Robbie Williams, may make a return on this tour have been well and truly ruled out by the lads. Gary Barlow and Jason Orange both flatly denied that Robster would be returning.
Robbie, who quit the band in 1995, added fuel to the fire this March when, back in Manchester to watch his pal Jonathan Wilkes in We Will Rock You, he confirmed that he would like to rejoin the band in future. But his former bandmates ruled it out – for this tour at least.
“Unfortunately – and I mean unfortunately – there is no chance of it happening this time,” confirms Jason.
“We did speak about the prospect with him. It's OK for us because it would boost the show and it would be a brilliant moment, but it's not right for him. He's taken his own advice from his own people, but when he came back to us and said it's not right for him, we were in agreement. We know how the public perception is.
“If Robbie came on board with us, some people would be saying it's a lovely thing, but other people would be saying 'You know what, Robbie needs THEM now'. It would go against him, wouldn't it, really? But I hope it does happen in the future, and I mean that.”
The UK tour will see Take That playing for a total of a million people in what was the fastest-selling tour in UK history.
And what next for Take That? “Another record, probably, next year” says Gary. “We'll see how we feel after this. We're still ambitious. We don't feel like this is the end of the road for us by any means. We feel in many respects that this is the start.”

Posted by Dianne Bourne on June 7, 2009 05:28 PM

http://blogs.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/bourne....wn.html

CarmenLG, thanks! Guys are looking great! I think they've done a LOT more that anybody could expect!

Programmes were £15

Hoodies were £50

Mugs were £10

Bowler Hats and Clown Wigs £5