6 November 2024 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne – words by Nicole Smith-Walker
November 6th, 2024, Melbournes Rod Laver Arena was slowly filled with an array of colourful sparkled attires and bows of a crowd old and young and the stage featured a retro television with ‘This Life’ rotating on the screen. Classic songs which included ‘That’s Amore’ and ‘Que sera, sera’ played in the arena while attendees chatted amongst each other. Frontier Touring and Chugg Entertainment has brought Australian British pop fans two icons, headliners Take That for their This Life On Tour with special guest Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor came on stage in a gorgeous green sparkly dress shimmering in the stage lights and fellow band mates wore various animal masks, opening with ‘Crying At The Discotheque’ by Swedish band Alcazar and immediately after, the audience shared a heartwarming moment with Sophie and her son, as he was on FaceTime up on stage, on the way to school in London, England.
Sophie described playfully and cheekily throughout the entire set, how her and fellow musicians were taking steps with the audience to build an intimate relationship together, each song describing key formational moments.
We shared some alone time on our own private dance floor with ‘Modjos Lady (Hear Me Tonight)’ and Sophie’s own ‘Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)’ both featuring 70’s and 80’s disco samples and we took things more seriously by going to church with a rendition of Madonnas ‘Like A Prayer’. We danced, jumped and clapped together for ‘Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)’.
Sophie spoiled us with her much loved hits which included ‘Music Gets The Best Of Me’, ‘Get Over You’, a cover of ABBAs ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’, her new song ‘Freedom Of The Night’ and ending with her early 2000s hit ‘Murder On The Dance Floor’ which has had a recent reprise.
The anticipated trio – Gary, Mark and Howard of Take That arrived on stage to a roaring crowd in a black ensemble, joined by a live band. They opened with ‘Greatest Day’, singing on stairs with blue flashing lights. The crowd were up and out of the seats.
Take That took us on a journey, exploring their three decade long collection of chart toppers. Mark put their performance into perfect words “We are going to be playing lots of songs, some old, some new but basically a big celebration of us and all of you beautiful people!”
‘Giants’ sent shivers down everyone’s spines, as Mark and Howard joined the band by hitting bass drums.
Howard took the lead in singing the uplifting disco inspired ‘Everything Changes’ while Gary played piano, Mark on acoustic guitar and they were joined by a saxophonist.
As Gary continued on his piano, Mark told the crowd “He could sit at his piano all day if he could… according to the man himself, music is his life… it all started with this song written by Gary when he was only fourteen years old. This is ‘A Million Love Songs’.
Gary shared the optimistic start of the band in Manchester, England. It was to be a band “not like those normal Manchester bands like Happy Mondays or The Smiths, oh no, this was going to be completely different – Take That was going to be an all singing, all dancing extravaganza!”. The trio donned leather jackets and performed ‘I Found Heaven’.
The night continued on with hit after hit exploring their journey throughout the decades which included, ‘Pray’, ‘Patience’, ‘The Flood’, ‘Get Ready For It’, a cover of Bee Gees ‘How Deep Is Your Love’, with plenty of costume changes and energetic dance moves, proving their showmanship is still on point. Finally arriving to present day with ‘This Life’. The journey down memory lane continued on with ‘Back for Good’ and ‘Never Forget’ as the show was coming to its conclusion. The whole crowd clapped and sung their hearts out.
Take That, with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, continue their spectacular tour at Sydneys Olympic Park Qudos Bank Arena on the 7th of November, and two more performances for A Day On The Green, joined by Australian pop singer Ricki-Lee and Australian duo Dacy.
