Germany 2: Take That in Munich! (29th July 2011)

29th July 2011 (Friday) 

Olympiastadion München. Last Show of "Progress" 

   

MORE TAKE THAT'S CONCERT PICS

Amazing costumes, a jaw-dropping set... Simply spectacular!

What a spectacle: the theatrics begin, with an awesome and surreal Alice In Wonderland scene. An Alice In Wonderland theme for ‘Shine’ complete with dancing trees, roller-skating bees and a huge caterpillar

Impressive stage, great music, energy... Keep calm, it's Take That!

Next four became five, as Take That briefly united onstage ‘virtually’ through a huge video screen to sing their own version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; creating the bridge between the first two parts of the show

Robbie Williams then kicked off his solo set with a stadium thumping ‘Let Me Entertain You’ which had the crowd jumping off their feet. His set proceeded through his own classics: ‘Rock DJ’ (where he climbed into a glass chariot to be pulled around the stage by dancers in roller-skates), ‘Come Undone’, ‘Feel’ (which saw him winched out to the audience) and of course finishing with the amazing ‘Angels’

Before the five are reunited properly onstage a group of ominous looking Shaolin monks adorned in red cloaks swinging lanterns walk from the B-stage to the main stage to introduce their arrival. Take That then sing the song that marked their historic return; ‘The Flood’. For this the dancers performed an amazing routine taking place on a wall of water while the band sang from the highest part of the stage

Robbie threw himself off the top for the finale of ‘The Flood’ to the floor via suspension cables before the band break into an explosive version of ‘SOS’ from their record breaking album ‘Progress’. This is the point where the audience are first introduced to a huge mechanical man who is revealed from behind the stage and slides out in a sitting position for the guys to sing ‘Underground Machine’ (again from ‘Progress’) to rapturous cheers from the audience

Intricate choreographies, skilled dancers, a show full of special effects...

Williams singing 'The Flood'

Stunning pyrotechnics

The band then move to the B stage to perform ‘Kidz’ where they start an old skool dance-off involving Jason and Howard, flanked by human chess pieces dressed in black and white. ‘Pretty Things’ is performed back on the main stage with Gary and Robbie being lifted up by OM’s hands as a beautiful ballet dancer flits between the two stages

They also play instruments really well. 

Take That is one of the most versatile bands of our times

I loved the banter between the band! They shared a few laughs with each other and the audience about old times before gathering around a piano for a medley of ‘Million Love Songs’, ‘Babe’, ‘Everything Changes’, ‘Back For Good’ and ‘Pray’ the final song for which they get up and do the original dance routine while the crowd go crazy. What a nostalgia listening to these classics!

In unbelievable scenes, the mechanical robot, which had lights throughout its body and flashing eyes, lifted its arms up and turned its hands into mini stages for the boys. OM  proved to be the surprise star of the show!!!

Gary, Howard, Jason, Mark and Robbie then begin what has to be one of the high points of the show: new XMen single ‘Love, Love’ featuring twenty dancers in gas masks flanking the band on either side of the main stage, while the mechanical man moves out into the middle of the stadium (carrying the band), with an awesome futuristic landscape on the VT behind which takes up the entire back wall

As the show draws near to its finale the band break into ‘Never Forget’ as OM revealed his full height (20 metres) which was quite astounding, and the band then finish with a touching song of Robbie’s that was performed by the whole band: ‘No Regrets’; a fiery performance of ‘Relight My Fire’ (with Robbie singing Lulu’s part) closing the show with Gary Barlow leading on the beautiful ‘Eight Letters’ (also the final track on ‘Progress’).
Three great songs to close the show :-)

The last song of the show ‘Eight Letters’ was quite an emotional moment. I think is one of the best songs in Progress, their latest album. 'Eight Letters' was the big closing ballad. The lyrics are highly self-referential and autobiographical. It's probably closest to the sound of the previous two albums and seems to utilize the entire band more fully than on most of the album, which is fitting given the meaning behind the song. However, it was undoubtedly Never Forget that was the biggest song of the night and the whole stadium sang their heart out in word perfect harmony along with the fab five

The giant OM

Take That saying goodbye while were singing 'Eight Letters'

Dancers thanking the public. One of them was Spanish and and was carrying a Spanish flag

OM illuminated

The stage after the concert. It was an incredible show that I'll never forget

Auf wiedersehen und gute heimfahrt  = goodbye and safe journey home! 

All of the songs were performed brilliantly to deafening screams from the fans. When Take That put on a tour, they really pull out the stops. I would highly recommend going to see them live. You don’t just get a concert, you get an amazing show.

Progress Live 2011 was the band's biggest tour yet and was the first time they toured together as a five-piece since 1995.

Progress Live 2011 was a feast for the imagination, charting the evolution and progress of Take That and Robbie Williams through their extraordinary 20-year history.

The spectacular live shows celebrated Take That's biggest hits from the last two decades and, was also a opportunity to see Robbie singing some of the songs from his incredible chart-topping solo career.

The album Progress is full of energy and excitement and isn't pulled down by the pressure of huge anticipation and expectation from the British public, who have shattered records for Take That including fastest selling tour in UK music history (Progress 2011) demand for this actually causing disruption to British Telecoms and also the second highest first week sales of all time behind Oasis Be Here Now (1997). The album has already sold 2.8 million copies in the UK alone 7 of these weeks at #1 and the album has been #1 across Europe. As to whether or not this is their greatest album i'm not sure but it definately ranks highly.

The best selling album of 2010 and 15th in 2011 in the UK.

Take That also went on to win Best British Group at The Brits (UK Grammys) in 2011.