Take That defined the teenage years of many of us now in our 40s with their boy-band looks, baggy pants and dance moves that were replicated in many a living room.
Thirty-plus years on and the boys are back – well, three of the five anyway – and chose Perth’s RAC Arena to kick off their 12th trek around the globe with This Life on Tour.
Howard Donald, Gary Barlow and Mark Owen performing on stage at Perth’s RAC Arena on Wednesday night.Credit: Duncan Barnes
Mid-week, and with a target audience whose bedtime was around the same time the band came on stage, I wasn’t expecting much of a crowd. But the RAC Arena’s 15,500 seats were almost full to the brim of screaming, dancing, singing super fans.
Thirteen years ago, Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Robbie Williams reunited for eight sell-out nights at London’s Wembley Stadium that broke a record at the time for the highest grossing residency by making $61 million from those nights alone.
Yes, they could command a stage with some of the biggest and most memorable pop songs of the 90s, and even if they’re now looking a little older and a little less agile than they did in 1995, they still know how to crank out some moves and belt out the hits.
While their Perth show did contain a lot of their later and arguably less popular songs, when they sang earlier hits such as Pray, Shine, A Million Love Songs, Everything Changes and Back For Good, the Millennials went wild.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor opened the show.Credit: Duncan Barnes
No Robbie and no Jason meant it was left to just Gaz, Mark and Howie to fill the stage, but they managed to bring the arena to life with some classic choreography and familiar voices.
It was like hanging out with old friends, ones you have grown up with, and as a Brit, seeing them on stage after so many years of singing along with them was magic.
Fellow Englishwoman Sophie Ellis-Bextor, of Murder on the Dance Floor fame, whipped the crowd into a frenzy as a warm-up act.
The boys began the tour earlier this year in the UK and then Europe. Last weekend they were in Abu Dhabi, then Singapore before flying into Perth to start their Australian leg. This weekend they’re performing in South Australia, Melbourne and then Sydney before heading to Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan.
Thirty-five years on, they’re still one of the most loved boy bands of the 90s.
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