Get Ready For Take That!

Our second gig on Saturday was Take That in Birmingham!  Following a four year tour hiatus, the ultimate performers are back on the road with another spectacular show.  Take That shows are always my favourite and I was so excited so see them live once again!

We had pit tickets for the show, a special area in between the main and B stage, and despite arriving quite late we managed to get a spot on the red carpet which went down the middle between both stages.  After reading countless tour spoilers, I knew that it was potentially one of the best places to stand and for us it indeed did pay off! (More on that later on...).

Ella Henderson was due to be the support act but a few days before we were told that she would be replaced by Lawson for this night.  To be honest I couldn't have been happier as I am a big fan of theirs and hadn't seen them live since August!  Their set was brilliant and they received a really good crowd reaction.  They performed their hits When She Was Mine, Taking Over Me, Standing in the Dark, Brokenhearted, Juliet and their new single Roads.

All roads lead to Lawson...

Andy and Ryan doing their thing

Finally it was time for Take That!  Normally at a concert, the lights go down and that signifies the start of the show however Take That always build up the suspense to the spectacle ahead by having a mini show involving some of the cast members which sets the tone for the rest of the night!

Once the music kicked in, they opened with I Like It, which involved a routine around the entire main and B stage with the cast.  It's hard to know where to focus your attention as there is so much going on around you, it's extremely overwhelming and I for one am really pleased that I'm going to see the show again as you simply cannot take it all in the first time!

Mark and some of the cast during I Like It

The set was over two hours long and featured some of my favourite songs including Get Ready For It (combine Howard banging a drum and intense fire flames and I really wasn't okay tbqh haha!!) and Said It All (which in my eyes is one of their most underrated songs).  One of the stand out performances for me was Flaws, which features Gary's haunting vocals and a stunning contemporary dance from Howard and Mark.  I don't usually like that type of dancing but it was genuinely beautiful.  I must also mention the amazing Portrait, in which they drove around the arena in a flying car.  Of course, the classic songs are always the biggest crowd pleasers, with Could It Be Magic and Pray getting rapturous applause especially when the dance moves were dusted off!!!

flying over the crowd!

I mentioned earlier about spoilers implying that the red carpet was a good place to stand and I can confirm that was true!  During Relight My Fire, the crowd were split in order to clear the red carpet and we were held back by a rope and burly security men.  However that didn't stop us from getting to touch Gary, Howard and Mark's hands as they walked through the crowd!  I was genuinely so excited to be in such close contact despite having met them before haha!  On the topic of spoilers - I'm a sucker for them.  I never have the patience to wait and be surprised!  I like to know what's being sung, who does what, every costume change and other little detail and some people think this spoils the show but it really doesn't.  Despite knowing the set list and biggest spoilers, it enhanced my experience as I was prepared for the red carpet scenario and got to stand in one of the best places. Also reading people's tweets etc really does not compare to the real thing - it is such a breathtaking show that watching all the spoilers in the world could never live up to what I actually witnessed in the Genting Arena.

the ever beautiful Howard!

The boys performed These Days and Rule The World to "end the show", with the promise of a "well rehearsed encore if we cheered loud enough" - considering the arena was full to the brim of Thatters, it didn't take long for them to reappear and perform Shine, before finishing with the ultimate classic Never Forget.  There is literally no better feeling in the world than watching Take That perform that song - it doesn't matter where or who you are, every single member of the audience will always raise their arms during the chorus and it is quite a marvellous sight!

Captain Barlow!

To end the night on a high, as we were leaving the arena we bumped into Carmen, a fellow Kingsland fan who was trying to meet Lawson outside.  As we were chatting, I turned around and noticed a lad chatting to a small group of girls - it was only Joel! He was so lovely and stopped for a photo with us.

my goals - a smiley pic with Joel!

Having been to see Take That tours as a five, four and now three piece, I can honestly say that they did not disappoint at all,  Whilst TT4 has always been my favourite, being a three piece makes them work that little bit harder and you can see the effort they put in when they deliver such a triumphal show night after night.  The chemistry between them is something you cannot break and I think they're possibly even closer since Jason's departure.

a breathtaking show - nobody does it better!

I really urge anyone to go and see them  - whether you're a fan or not, I don't doubt that you will leave feeling in awe at the phenomenal production.  Their set is incredibly inspiring - they are men in their forties yet perform such a physically demanding show.  I felt real admiration looking at what they had achieved - in their previous stadium shows they've had enormous robots and elephants to create the wow factor, whilst this time round they've toned it down to suit an arena setting yet still manage to take your breath away.

I write this as I'm waiting for the train to Manchester, really hyped for round 2 on Saturday - I haven't felt so excited about a concert in a long time!

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

Jamie Scott - the kid from the UK!

On Saturday we went to two gigs - another Foxy Presents in Camden (despite vowing to never go to another event ha) and Take That in Birmingham! I also remember saying a few weeks ago that I would never go to two gigs in the same day again but we took a risk and it paid off as we had one of the best days in ages!

This post is going to focus solely on Jamie Scott (or Jay as I will always call him soz) and his Camden gig. Seeing him perform live really was a case of third time lucky - we missed his first gig in Birmingham because his set times were changed whilst we were trying to meet Nathan Sykes, and he had to pull out of his second gig at the last minute. After deciding last minute to go to London, I was really excited about finally seeing him perform on his own!

We got to see him a bit before he performed. I went to the shop across the road to get money out and he happened to be going in at the same time so we had a nice chat in there haha. We also had this picture taken inside, #squadlife.

squad goals ;-)

Thankfully, this Foxy gig was well organised and ran to time as Jay was on at 4pm and we needed to leave at half past in order to go back to Birmingham. He came on and started with B-B-B-B-Bounce (which is now firmly imprinted in my brain, I keep singing it all the time!) then did a cover of Clean Bandit's Rather Be which is one of my favourite songs.

Next he performed another cover, this time Rihanna's Talk That Talk (i've legit never heard the song before but I was reliably informed that this was the song haha).  I filmed this cover - despite never hearing it before, I really enjoyed it!

Jay's next song was called Dancing With Darkness and he got four fans up on stage to sing and dance with him.  I really like this song - it's so catchy and Jay really goes for it with the dance moves! Finally, he sang another original called In My Thoughts - this is such a good song and you can hear it on Soundcloud.

(Dancing with Darkness)

We got to speak to Jay quickly after his set and congratulated him on his set.  Unfortunately we had to rush off to catch the train back to Birmingham for Take That but I was so glad that we made the trip to London and finally saw him perform on his own for the first time.  It was well worth the wait - he is so energetic and brings something new to the table compared to most male artists these days.  I really hope he is successful as a solo artist, he deserves it.

Be sure to follow Jay on the following:

Twitter

Facebook

Youtube

Soundcloud

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

  

Happy Blog Anniversary!

One year ago today I started this blog! It was always my intention to use the blog as a diary of my fangirl activities, and 35 posts later it's already proving to be a cute keepsake that I can look back on.

At the beginning I was very anxious about having anyone else read my posts which was silly really, but over time I have become more open about sharing my posts on twitter. Obviously I don't expect anyone to actually read the crap I post, considering as I write it for my benefit, however it turns out that some people do give it a read from time to time and this makes me happy! Sometimes it even encourages people to check out a certain artist, which makes me even happier. Thank you to anyone that does give the blog a read, it really means a lot :)

In a few days time I'll be going to see Take That, which will kick off the next lot of blog posts. May is a super busy month and I can't wait to go back on the road after not going anywhere for a few weeks! 

I've also been thinking about other type of posts, about non-fangirl stuff which are a part of my life. I don't really want to start a second blog for them so they might appear on here - I guess "adventures of a welsh fangirl" can stretch to general life things such as work too!

Anyway, here's to a second year of blogging! If you do read any of my posts then please let me know or leave a comment :) 

Hwyl am y tro ✌️