Credit: Dave Hogan

The hottest day of the year got even hotter this week when Take That brought their Circus tour to Wembley Stadium, and it was just the sort of high energy spectacle we expect from Britain’s best-loved man-band.

In keeping with the title of their latest album the show had a circus theme, with the stage designed as a giant big top and backing dancers being replaced by trapeze artists and acrobatic clowns. The stunning visual displays could have been exhausting and overwhelming to watch, but the theme of the show was variety, interspersing the big bangs with poignant whispers.

After a hot air balloon introduction on the B Stage featuring hits including ‘Greatest Day’ and ‘Back for Good’, the tone of the show was set as the band rode to the main stage on the back of a jaw-dropping giant silver elephant operated by puppeteers – War Horse meets Lord of the Rings. “Elton John’s kicking himself that he didn’t think of this first!” Gary gleefully announced, revelling in the high camp.

Despite the giant elephants and acrobats, the songs were always kept front and centre, with far stronger vocals than you may expect from boybands. An energetic performance of ‘Shine’ was followed up by an acoustic set in which the band reminded us that while they may have begun life as any other manufactured pop band, they are now talented musicians and entertainers in their own right. Even when Gary was alone on the stage with a piano the audience were kept entranced, and the band’s performance of ‘What Is Love’ was quietly moving.

The older members of the audience were thrilled when the boys went into a medley of some of their older dance tracks, including ‘Do What You Like’, ‘It Only Takes a Minute’ and ‘Take That and Party’, which proved that all the band members are still the dancers they were in the early 90s – including Gary, who has not developed rhythm to go with his new slimline body.

‘Relight My Fire’ provided the stunning finale, with the stage dominated by a huge, quite terrifying puppet that bore a slightly unfortunate (and completely unintentional) resemblance to Michael Jackson. Loleatta Holloway, the singer on the 1979 version of the track, sang Lulu’s part while the boys cracked whips and swung round cages in trousers they’d have to be cut out of.

For the encore, ‘Hold Up a Light’ and ‘Rule the World’ were accompanied by a climactic fireworks display that left the crowds cheering and applauding long after the band left the stage.

Take That never seem to take their success for granted, and are always grateful to the fans and songs that have kept them in the cultural consciousness for nearly 20 years. Their entire journey seems to be encapsulated towards the end of the show in the moving back-to-back performances of the anthems ‘Never Forget’ and ‘Patience’ – the song that was their swansong in 1996 and the song that welcomed them back a decade later.

Many bands would be lost in a show as big as The Circus, but Take That have a knack of keeping the show tailored around their personalities, bantering with each other and the audience between songs and throwing in in-jokes about Gary’s dancing and Mark’s height, The more you know about the band, the more rewarding their concerts are, so it’s really no surprise that the boys inspire such loyalty and enthusiasm in their fans. And with a concert as spectacular, energetic and personable as The Circus, even the reluctant boyfriends and fathers in the crowd were dancing by the end.

By Abigail Chandler