Take That review – stadium redux of Circus tour has maximal razzle-dazzle

Take That have long repackaged their past. In 2018 they followed two best-of collections with Odyssey, a Stuart Price-produced project that "re-imagined" their hits, and Gary Barlow has been frank about the band’s status as a legacy act more focused on ticket sales than streams.

When The Circus first played stadiums in 2009 it became the fastest-selling tour in UK history, making more than £40m in profit. Rather than make new studio work, the trio — Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald — have lightly "re-imagined" the original Circus show.

On paper the reboot feels like a commercial exercise with no anniversary peg, but a giant sky-blue air balloon and a lightly toasted, wine-drunk crowd quickly dissolve cynicism. The setlist is largely unchanged: Owen’s lead on "Babe" replaces Jason Orange’s "Wooden Boat", "You’re a Superstar" allows a breather, and by the end of the first act they’ve run through "Pray", "A Million Love Songs" and "Back for Good" before a mechanical elephant escorts them back to the main stage.

UK

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