That's exactly what I was thinking - Gary must be really happy with the reviews the musical is getting. What better present than have your work acknowledged?

I'm really glad for him.

 

Dylandog - If I'm clapping my hands like I'm retarded, you got the right video :D The video is not very good quality, but it works to my advantage (don't want to scare anyone :D )

I was pleasantly surprised to see how many fans embraced the idea of this bday pressie for Gary. I hope seeing how many fans still support him motivates him in continuing with his music for a long time.

I hate 'Greatest Day' with the most almighty passion, just awful on every conceivable level. That was at the point where they could have released any single following the Beautiful World era and it would have been lapped up - and did.

I just bought my ticket for their Singapore concert. My first Take That concert ever. :D

So jealous :D

I hope everyone has a good time at the boys' concerts this year!

Hopefully TT will play somewhere close to you Milly. Don't give up just yet as they appear receptive to performing outside of the UK and their normal venues.

 

They've hinted at some European dates this year and with the success of the Dubai concert there's a chance they'll try places they wouldn't have considered some years ago. It's possible Rob has also told them about his successful concert in Romania and as a result Eastern Europe may be on their agenda.

 

iamstrong - hope the concert is fantastic and make sure you post a review!

 

I just bought my ticket for their Singapore concert. My first Take That concert ever. :D

 

Congrats! As Milly says, please post a review!

you will have a night to remember "iamstrong".

Take That never disappoint live, i would love to be going to see them again.

It's true they're a fantastic live act and it's probably the main reason for their longevity. I'm assuming the Singapore gig wont have any production, or minimal at least but I don't think it will distract from the experience. Gary's shows have been music led and they were wonderful.

That said the best two tours have been BW and The Circus, both of which had a significant amount of production. The key is for the production to enhance the music rather than distract from it which is a difficult balancing act.

 

I really hope that the Singapore gig exceeds the expectations for everyone who's attending.

I think I read on fb that the Singapore gig will have the same production as the III tour.

I don't know if it's true, though. Knowing the size of the venue would play a big role in determining whether this rumour is true or not.

But either way, I'm sure the fans will love the gig.

Same old setlist in Bangkok :banghead: :no:

https://www.facebook.com/257023904330019/ph...e=3&theater

 

Why can't they do, for once, at least a couple of songs they've never performed live? They could have tried some of the new songs: WYBTFM or Carry Me Home or Freeze. Not to mention the poor BW album always being paid dust too.

I usually love the boys, but, whenever I see the setlist, I could strangle them.

I know Milly -it's so, so frustrating. I would love to hear songs like Butterfly, We All Fall Down, Holding Back the Tears, Carry Me Home, WYBTFM and countless others. I'm beginning to fear that it will be the same old set list for Hyde Park.

 

For the life of me I don't understand their reluctance to experiment. Even the introduction of 3 or 4 new songs would make a difference!!!!

Even if it goes against everything I believe in, I'm gonna spam Gary till June with song requests for Hyde Park. Even if it means he unfollows me or blocks me :)

I'm pretty sure Babe, Could It be Magic, Everything Changes are not indispensable songs like RTW or BFG. They could replace them, once in a while, with 3 songs that fans are dying to hear.

Seriously, they have some little gems they've never performed in their discography, why not perform them?

I understand that they have so many hits they feel they can't leave out, but, once you have RTW, Patience and BFG in your setlist, certainly you can play more with the rest of the songs.

There are certain songs I understand are close to being indispensable. I would say these include: RTW, Patience, Shine, RMF (not keen on at all), GD, BFG, The Flood, HUAL, TD and NF. I would contend that songs such as Said It All and The Garden follow close behind. It would also be nice to hear songs such as MLS, Nobody Else and LAHAM. I dislike Babe intensely and I'd be more than happy not to hear that song live ever again, but I can see why it's included because it was a No 1 single.

 

Their set list could go to around 25 songs so there would still be room to include the songs I've mentioned before such as AFD, HBTT, CMH and WYBTFM. Songs such as Eight Letters and a number of B Sides could be listed and they wouldn't distract from the quality of the concert in any shape or form. In fact I'd contend that some of the B sides are stronger than some of the better known songs.

 

The number of songs they haven't sung live is quite incredible!!!

What baffles me most is that, over time, they've done a number of private gigs for hardcore fans. On these occasions, they could have left out even the "indispensable" songs and done exclusively songs never performed before.

An arena or stadium gig sets certain restrictions to the setlist, indeed, cause there's a high probability that most of the audience are not hardcore fans, but what's their excuse when doing private gigs?

As much as it pains me to say it, I think there's a certain laziness involved here. They just can't be bothered to rehearse new songs.

There's probably something in the laziness angle but I also think they aren't as confident about their material as they should be. There's a possibility they underestimate their audience and assume they want to hear well known songs and see the big productions which goes alongside songs such a RMF.

 

All of these factors might play a part, but there's still room for new material and a more reflective set list. They need to be careful their shows don't become stale and simply a platform for their greatest hits. Audiences expect the hits but they also like the unexpected; and that goes for unusual arrangements of classics such as BFG.

The whole concert in Singapore: https://www.periscope.tv/w/1vOGwWmYyyoGB

They did Said It All, dylandog :) They must have heard it's indispensable :P

 

Has Gary ever been in Singapore solo? My impression was that he got the best crowd reaction, especially when he said his name.

Oh, the crowd really loved Pray :)

Oh, I love Pray and forgot to add it to my list. I'd like to hear the arrangement they had for MLS back in the 90's. I wasn't a fan back then but I recall seeing a clip from one of their concerts. Gary and Howard were both playing key boards and the three others were sitting behind them. I really liked that arrangement of the song and I'd love to hear them sing it that way again.

 

Thanks for the link to the Singapore concert, I'll check it out later today. They've been received so well in both places and looked really surprised and delighted about it. Given it's in the range of 20 years since their last tour, it's lovely that fans in that part of the world have had an opportunity to see them - have to say it looked mighty hot. Mark looked like he was going to melt :)

 

The Singapore concert is amazing. I had such a great time.

 

The crowd went wild whenever Gary started singing, and he really had by far the best reception from the crowd. Everyone was singing along to Shine, Pray, Could It Be Magic, Patience, Back For Good and Never Forget, and I lost my voice by the end of the concert, but it was totally worth it :D

 

Gary also hinted at the possibility of more Singapore concerts in the future, and I hope it happens B-)

Poor Gary was sweating so much during the concert (it was really humid today)

 

http://i.imgur.com/bYt5Pfr.png

http://i.imgur.com/651lMNM.jpg