Gary Barlow wants to use virtual reality in Take That’s tour.
The ‘Patience’ hitmakers are set to embark on a six-month 72-date concert series in April in support of their current album ‘This Life’ and the 53-year-old singer is taking inspiration from the immersive technology used by U2 during their residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, which features a 160,000 sq ft LED screen wrapped around the auditorium.
Gary told the Sunday Mirror newspaper of seeing U2: “When the screen came on, 18,000 people breathed in. Things like the Sphere, or headsets and VR are going to move our music on.
“Imagine coming to our gig and everyone’s got those goggles on… that’s where I think the improvements are going to come.
“We’ve been listening to music a long time, then we had videos to accompany the music. What’s next? I think experiences are going to get bigger.”
Ahead of the tour, Gary joked he is the “class bore” compared to bandmates Mark Owen and Howard Donald, because he can’t handle late nights or partying like they can.
He added: “I want to be 150% on stage. The others are in better physical shape than me.”
Towards the end of last year, former ‘X Factor’ judge Gary teased that a Las Vegas residency was potentially on the cards.
Speaking at a live recording of their podcast ‘Take That: This Life’ at London’s Leicester Square, he said: “Las Vegas, it looks promising.”
And last month, Voltaire founder Michael Gruber confirmed he’d love to get the ‘Back for Good’ group to Sin City, even though previous talks had fallen through.
Michael told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “I love Take That. I absolutely want them to perform at Voltaire. It is perfect for them. We thought we would have a show but it didn’t work out in the end.”