If you follow pop music with any level of relevancy you'll remember the heralded reunion of Take That as a quartet back in 2006. They followed up their first effort of the decade two years later with their critically acclaimed album The Circus and even if that title was only in reference to the 12 or so tracks which that album comprised of it's an apt description of what's still in store for you if you get to see Take That Live: A circus, of tremendous proportions, and nothing less. The displays on offer range from ridiculous to flat out over-the-top, sometimes in a slightly derivative manner, but don't take that to be a bad thing. Whenever an idea you see on stage has been used before, the band have clearly spent some time tweaking it to make it even more outrageous than it could have been before and ridiculous and over-the-top might be the highest compliments you could pay to a stage-show that spends so much time and effort trying to utterly boggle as many of your senses as possible.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's worth remembering that not only is this the new and improved Take That of 2006, it's the new and improved Take That quintet thanks to the re-inclusion of all-round entertainer Robbie Williams, joining the band for the first time in 15 years.
Understandably, you might anticipate a few awkward glances from time to time but all of the lads seem genuine, even when Robbie decides to throw the audience for a loop ("I didn't leave, Jason, you were in the room when I was fired. You were the one that fired me," pause for nervous laughter, "Awww, come on, where's my big love, Jase!" followed by a warm embrace.)
Naturally, with this being the first tour featuring all five in 15 years it allows for some interesting formatting for a show...
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| And by interesting formatting, I do of course mean "THERE'S A GIANT BEHIND YOU, JASON!" |
