Take That took fans on a trip down memory lane in Milton Keynes on Thursday (30.05.24) night.
The trio used the second segment of their ‘This Life On Tour’ set at Stadium MK to look back on their lengthy career, with 80s TV-show themed surroundings, beginning with ‘A Million Love Songs’, the group’s sixth single, which was written by Gary Barlow when he was just 15 years old.
From there, they performed another early hit, ‘It Only Takes a Minute’, followed by ‘Pray’ – complete with iconic dance routine – before recalling how they split and launched solo careers, with Howard Donald introducing Gary on piano to sing his ballad ‘Forever Love’ and then Mark Owen’s lively rendition of ‘Clementine’.
Howard noted he hadn’t had the chance to release his own solo single, but treated fans to what he had intended to bring out, ‘Speak Without Words’.
The trio then staged a mock phone call with one another to discuss a potential reunion, 10 years after they had split, before belting out 2006 comeback track ‘Patience’. This was followed by ‘The Flood’, taken from ‘Progress’, their reunion album with former band member Robbie Williams, and the segment was closed out with ‘Get Ready For It’, which appeared on ‘III’, the group’s first album as a trio following the departures of Robbie and Jason Orange.
The high-energy show had opened with the trio dressed all in black, treating fans to new songs ‘Keep Your Head Up’, ‘Windows’ and ‘Days I Hate Myself’, as well as old favourites ‘Giants’, ‘Everything Changes’ and ‘Sure’, with the later track seeing the trio running around the stage and up and down the two staircases that dominated the set, though Gary admitted towards the end it had left him exhausted.
During the second half of the show, the band donned striking metallic silver outfits – complete with crowns – and greeted fans as they walked through to a smaller second stage in the middle of the stadium, while ‘Relight My Fire’ saw them return to the main stage amid pyrotechnics that made it look like the staircases were on fire.
Fans shone their phone lights throughout the crowd for ‘Hold Up a Light’, and the gig ended with a singalong high of ‘Back For Good’, You and Me’, ‘Never Forget’ – which saw another return to the second stage – before fireworks went up in the sky to bring the curtain down as the band performed ‘Rule the World’.