Take That Concert – Milton Keynes Bowl
Being that David, Emily and I are avid Take That fans when the group announced following the sell out of their Arena tour that they would be doing a date at Wembley Stadium we did all that we could to get hold of tickets. Sadly after getting 4 by the skin of our teeth the Stadium contractors announced that it would not be completed in time and therefore the gig was moved to Milton Keynes Bowl.
David had arranged to meet me at mine and then we would drive up while Emily & her friend Tracey met us at the Bowl.
According to the internet the journey of about 50 miles should have taken around an hour. So we set off at 1300 stopping for some lunch on the way. Neither David or myself had ever been to the Bowl before and were not prepared for the queues that we discovered on arriving in Miltons Keynes. We sat practically parked on the M1 for over an hour in 3.5 miles of backed up traffic then taking an additional hour to get into Central Milton Keynes. Not quite sure where exactly the Bowl was and not being able to find it on my Global Positioning device we were forced to follow the masses enroute via the “Bowl Parking Signs”. Stopping briefly at a Shell Garage to empty our bladders and stock up on more water we finally crawled in 28 degree heat all the way into the city centre. David quickly spotted a small retail park that we diverted to, avoiding the lines into the Bowl Parking field. The one thing that I had been warned of was that parking is literally just a field and as such exciting on mass could be a disaster.
We checked the car park of Wicks for signs against Bowl Parking, Police cones, possible barriers that could close and entrap up or any yellow lines or parking restrictions. With none visable and seemingly dozens of others with the same idea we parked and walked the final distance to the Bowl.
I probably had not thought of what the venue would be like as we followed thousands of other fans down through the fields to where the ticket areas were. Emily had called and said that she and Tracey were sat outside Gate 6. Lost in a mass of people we could see gates 3, 4 & 5 and had to ask for directions to gate six. Typically, gate 6 was on the farthest side of the bowl, necessitating a walk of about 15 minutes over a fence and around a perimeter footpath. Spotting several lurking chavs on the path at weak points obviously waiting for a quiet moment to jump over the fence and gain free entry.
Finally we were there.
The Bowl was quite literally a hole in the ground with steps leading up and hills dropping down to the main standing and seating area for the show. A lighting rig and two huge screens were around the stage and to our shock at least 3 quarters of the capacity crowd already sat within the Dome already. Every possible Hillside spot of grass was filled with Blankets & People as far as the eye could see.
Not to be deterred we headed straight to the bar and armed with either Pimms or Cider fought our way through to crowds to our vantage point to the right of the Stage.
With the sun still beaming down and thousands of more people pouring into the venue Beverly Knight kicked off the entertainment. David and I nipped off to the Loo and returned just after the Sugar Babes started their set of 7 songs and then just before 845 the boys of Take That, excluding Robbie came on for their Gig.
The first half of the show contained a lot of the slower numbers; Pray, Babe, It only takes a minute before the boys changed into smart Red Suits, left the stage for the catwalk out in to the middle of the crowd and began their rendition of the Beatles Medley. Unlike at Wembley Stadium where we saw them last month they didn’t make the walk back from the Catwalk to the Stage through the mass of people.
The Second half really livened up. One of my favourites, “Relight my Fire” got everyone dancing and then we were all surprised when Lulu herself joint the lads on stage for her duet. If Lulu were here, would Robbie show up too? We waited in Anticipation.
After the fire spectacular of Relight my fire the final three numbers began. Artificial Rain poured down on the stage soaking the boys and their danced to Back to Good and as “Could it be Magic” began we couldn’t help be a little disappointed that it was only a Hologram of a very young Robbie singing his heart away with the other boys backing. A shuffle in the crowd indicated to us and the rest of the masses that knew the play list that the final song, “Never Forget” would end in a mass exodus. We slowly made our way to the exits on mass with the crowds.
We could clearly hear the singing long after we left the Bowl and headed back out to the main road and then turned to watch a fantastic 10 minute firework spectacular directly above the bowl and hear the encore of the boys saying their thanks and goodbye.
Whether this chance Sell Out tour post the Christmas release and Top Ten Selling Greatest Hits Album is simply a one off, the Beginning or the End of one of the Greatest Boy Bands in modern day I guess it is too early to tell. What is certain is that of the 7 times I have now seen Take That this last tour was by far the best. The boys were still as fantastic as ever and the songs came back to us as did the memories. It was fabulous to be able to go with David whom I went and saw Take That with in the 90’s in our college days and Emily with her childhood friend Tracey. Lets hope they are back for good and thanks for the memories. The fans have now grown up and us with them. No longer children at a show but adults watching the grown up fabricated boy band that changed the face of music of a Decade. Hats off to Gary, Howard, Mark, Jason & Robbie for the happy memories both then and now.
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