Take That Live!

[przed]

Well, we've been home since Sunday, I'm more or less in the right time zone (except for the rather enjoyable still waking up early thing), so I reckon it's finally time to write up my first experience of a Take That concert or two.

First off, I was very grateful that I got to see TT with the two people who were most responsible for pulling me into the fandom: halotolerant (who made sure I knew the names of all the members of the band and guided me to the good stuff) and soundofthesurf (who's become my first reader and a very dear friend), as well as Halo's lovely friend, elfwhistletree. Since it became clear that I very much needed to see the band, I'd been hoping to see a show with both of them, so it was wonderful that it all worked out.

Especially wonderful because a good part of the joy of a TT show turns out, not unexpectedly, to be the communal nature of it all. Gary is always saying that 50% of a TT show is the audience, and he's absolutely right. Everyone in the arena, from the first row of the pit to the last row of the upper balcony, is enthusiastic and there to enjoy the show, and after having had to explain who TT are for the last four years, it was exhilarating to be in a place where absolutely everyone got it. Which led to moments like this, during Rule the World:


(At this moment, Ros absconded with my phone and was waving its light around along with everyone else.)

And also the thing I'd most been looking forward to, the entire auditorium putting their hands in the air for the chorus of Never Forget:

(This is someone else's photo, because I wanted to enjoy the moment and didn't take a pic.)

I'm not gonna lie. During the first show, doing the arm thing alongside Halo, I totally teared up. I think it was possibly the most transcendent moment I've ever had at a concert.

The audience totally lived up to my expectations, but so did the band themselves and the show. Take That are rather famous for the theatricality of their shows, and this one totally lived up to that rep. There were flying bicycles, and thirty foot jets of flame, a dancer in a spinning ball of fireworks, and an underwater garden, complete with giant jellyfish.


There's their dorky humour, introducing themselves as "what's left of Take That," and the way they take the piss out of their old boy band routines while still being able to perform them perfectly. (As Halo said, Pray really is the best worst dance routine EVER!)

But it's not all jokes and spectacle. The best moment of the night was very simply staged. It started with Gary on the main stage, with a single spot light on him singing Flaws, a ballad from the new album. After a few moments, Howard and Mark appear on either side of him, in black pants and loose white vests. They did contemporary dance moves down either side of the runway surrounding the pit, until they met on the B stage and danced together in a way that melted my synapses all the way down to my toes, while Gary sings "take me, take me, I'm yours." And then, when I thought it couldn't get any better, and the very end of the song, they race back up either runway, meet once more in the middle, and embrace.

(Also not my picture, but just look at them!)

Oh. My. God.

I'd seen pictures of this routine floating around, and just from still images it was hard to tell if the whole thing was going to work, but it absolutely does work so very, very well. And completely plays into my slashy brain. (Howard/Mark is a pairing I am rather fond of, and now even more so.)

That was the show itself. The last thing to talk about it how the family enjoyed it.

Ros absolutely loved it. She was on her feet, dancing and clapping and throwing her hands into the air with everyone else.


Here we are before the show. The shirts are ones we stumbled on in Ros' favourite clothing store. They say "Shine like a star," which given that Shine is a favourite TT song for both of us, we couldn't resist.

The Sweetie wouldn't go beyond admitting the show was "fine." (And this was a sincere "fine" not a grudging one, thankfully, or you might be looking for his body at the bottom of Lake Ontario.) But one thing he did say that surprised me was that Howard and Mark's dance routine was his favourite moment of the show, and that he most liked the bits where it was the band without all the dancers and jellyfish.

I now know why there are fans who go to every show on the tour they can manage. Even seeing it twice, from the front and side, I feel like there was tons going on that escaped my notice. Which is why I'm happy that I'm actually getting one more bite of the cherry. They're doing a live broadcast of tomorrow's O2 show, and we're actually going to get it here in Toronto on July 2. Ros and I already have our tickets, and the friend I have dragged into TT fandom with me is coming along as well.

Comments

[asilia.livejournal.com]

The way the crowds love the boys is why I’ll always come back to gigs in the UK – it’s never even remotely the same in the rest of Europe. And I also have to say that the audience was a lot less enthusiastic in Glasgow than in London – it took until the middle oft he concert until everyone was even on their feet :/

Flaws totally blew us away – we were literally just sitting there with our mouths hanging open as we were watching Mark and Howard <3 Gary could not even have been in the building, I completely forgot he was even there during the whole song lol.

Rule the world is always sure to make me tear up – esp in London it totally overwhelmed me, it’s such a beautiful song and seeing all the lights and everyone singing along at the top of their lungs, it made me feel so, so proud of the boys and to be part of something so amazing. And well, nothing will ever, ever beat Never Forget and thousands of people raising their arms in the air, it’s simply the best thing there is <3

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

That sounds completely fabulous! I'm so glad it all went perfectly - and I love the mother and daughter T shirts!! I have been to very few live shows by anyone, but yes, they're wonderful and there's usually so much going on that you would need at least twice to take it all in. Enjoy!!

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking of you yesterday, assuming you must be back and wondering how it all had gone. Yay for posting! *g* (Also, I totally get the fun part of automatically waking up early. *g*)

Well! That sounds fabulous! I am so glad that the concerts even exceeded your expectations. And it must be so much fun to share all this with Ros...while also having your own slashy joy as well. *g* It really sounds fun, and even I, who knows nothing about this band except what I've learned from you, looked at that photo and said: "Huh." *g*

Thanks for the report! Now, just tell me that the boat ride was cool, too...

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

Wow that sounds absolutely brilliant - I love the sound of how Flaws was performed/staged. So glad you got to see them and had such a great time amongst your TT people :D

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear that your lads delivered and that you had such a good time there with Ros.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

What fun! You and Ros look amazing! I'm so glad you had a good time.

[halotolerant.livejournal.com]

Hee! I've been looking forward to seeing your write-up!

God, it was good, wasn't it? There is really is nothing like seeing them live. And it's so *incredibly* addictive, heh. Next time round, with hopefully better health and ideally a bit more wealth, I plan to try and maybe match my 14 times at Progress Live.... *g* And I hope I can share some of those with you again! I'm so glad you got two shows, and to hang out with soundofthesurf too, and the rest of the family enjoyed themselves - I'm sure 'fine' really truly means 'most awesome thing ever', right? Heh, well, at least he has seen that it's really not just you that's that keen on them *g* 'Transcendent' is a great word to describe how it feels to be in a room with all those fans, and the guys, and all that shared history and meaning - like I said that night, for so many fans the story of Take That and the discography matches up with huge amounts of important life moments and things passed or found, and you really *feel* that, I think.

And oh my goodness, 'Flaws'... *happysigh* I'm proud of them for what it is, and the skill, and the innovation, the refusal to just rest on their laurels and trot out the old stuff (even though of course that's great in it's place!)

Well done you for getting the live broadcast to Toronto! *g* Spreading the love! \o/

ETA: Will be great to see your other holiday write-ups and photos too *g*

[sunshine-2525.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the report! It sounds like you had a fab time and how great that Ros also loved it. Love your shirts! :-)

I was at the show in Manchester 30th May and had a brilliant time. I loved the atmosphere and that the audience was so enthusiastic during the whole show. This was the first time I saw TT in the UK, and I don't think that I've ever been to a show where everyone is so into it, singing and dancing along to every song. Often it's just the crowd at the front who is mostly into it, but now also the people sitting in the upper tiers were just as enthusiastic. The only time it cooled off a little was during Affirmation.

It was such a colourful and happy extravaganza of a show, going just once is definitely not enough. Next time I must try to go to a few more shows ;)
I am now looking into the possibility to go to Denmark in October, but I'm not sure yet if it will work.

I had watched the Flaws dance routine on Youtube before the show, but it was so much better to experience it live. It was a very sweet and beautiful moment of the show. That picture of Mark and Howard is just breathtaking.

Besides the moments of the show you have already mentioned, some of my favourite parts were Shine and Hold Up A Light. Hold Up A Light is such a perfect song to hear live. I'm also happy that they did The Garden and Up All Night.

[norfolkdumpling.livejournal.com]

It looks SO AWESOME! I'm glad you all had such a good time :)

[saintvic.livejournal.com]

It sounds really wonderful and I am glad you all had such a fantastic time.