Milestones
So in the last couple of weeks I've had a couple of anniversaries. The first one was on 25 June when I celebrated 18 years in "showbiz". I was MC'ing at The Glee Club in Oxford and was dead chuffed to be working with a fellow female (still an all-too-rare occurrence) and even happier that it was Lucy Porter who I've not gigged with since the 90's! How mad is that? Of course Lucy did go off and get herself a career and as a result she's not on the circuit all that often, but even so! I think the last time we shared a bill was when Roger Monkhouse ran The Last Laugh in Sheffield!
At the beginning of the year I wasn't sure I'd ever be back onstage but since I've been back in the UK I've loved every single minute of it. What a great was to make a living!
The other celebration wasn't an anniversary as such, although it's 16 years since I was last in the presence of the fabulous five aka Take That! I got the ticket by pure luck too. I happened to mention on Twitter that I wanted to go and see them and asked if anyone had a spare ticket they didn't need or want. Bit of a long shot to say the least! It paid off though and I was DM'd by an amazing woman who had just that - a spare ticket she didn't want or need. We'd not met in the real world, but that was remedied when she came along to one of my gigs - I guess that was to make sure I wasn't some wierdo (well not too weird) and we were all set.
So it was that I met her and six of her friends and family at Baker Street on Saturday and we headed off to Wembley. I'd not been there since the 80's, blimey it's all changed hasn't it? How fab that the new tube station is bang opposite. Last time I went that wasn't the case, it was the long old route march. We were there four hours before the gates opened just to queue up and I had the best laugh ever. It reminded me of my youth sleeping out for Bay City Rollers' tickets.
When they let us in we bagged some seats right by the pitch so that we'd have the option of sitting or joining in the scrum by the stages. As it turned out I stood by my seat for most of it (and paid the price with knackered feet and knees afterwards!). I did venture into the mob for a couple of the old tunes, but there was no chance of getting close to the band.
The build-up was great fun, the screens ran several advertisements, the most hilarious being ones for Tena Lady! Talk about knowing your market! I was blown away to see all these women from 30-60, all reliving their youth (or in my case my mid-30's). There were three mums in their nice white jeans and yellow Take That t-shirts who were great entertainment as they danced on the pitch to The Pet Shop Boys.
I was grateful for them being the support act - or "Special Guests" as Neil Tennant kept saying - apart from the great tunes, my ex-Smash Hits Features Editor Neil is at least five years older than me. By the looks of this photo, he's avoided the Botox/facelift route too!
They only did about 25 minutes and that was just enough really. For some bizarre reason they thought this was the place to air new tunes. A cracking 30 minutes of the Greatest Hits would've made more sense.
Around 8.15 it was time for the Main Event. I haven't felt this excited in ages! There they were. Live. On Stage. Take That!!!!!!!! Only four of them though. They ran through some of the tunes from the first comeback album "Hold Up A Light" "Patience" "Shine". It was fantastic! Of course to actually see any faces I had to stare at the screen, but that was ok.
The four of them disappeared and it was time for the Robbie Williams show. Wow. I've not seen Rob for years - Kentish Town Forum was the last live show I saw him do - and I'd forgotten how amazing he is. He was in his element and clearly happy to be back. It was sheer bliss. Especially when he did one of my favourite songs "Come Undone". He did "Angels" and that brought a tear to my eye as I recalled how much my Dad liked it.
After Rob's bit, it was time for the reunion. All five lads onstage together. If you're a fan you've already read all the press, or seen the show for yourself, if you're not you won't be interested, but it really felt good to see them all mates again, and boy did the old songs sound fabulous! "Pray" "Back For Good" - which always reminds me of Smug Roberts' 'bit' - "A Million Love Songs" and so many more. What a perfect night!
At the beginning of the year I wasn't sure I'd ever be back onstage but since I've been back in the UK I've loved every single minute of it. What a great was to make a living!
The other celebration wasn't an anniversary as such, although it's 16 years since I was last in the presence of the fabulous five aka Take That! I got the ticket by pure luck too. I happened to mention on Twitter that I wanted to go and see them and asked if anyone had a spare ticket they didn't need or want. Bit of a long shot to say the least! It paid off though and I was DM'd by an amazing woman who had just that - a spare ticket she didn't want or need. We'd not met in the real world, but that was remedied when she came along to one of my gigs - I guess that was to make sure I wasn't some wierdo (well not too weird) and we were all set.
So it was that I met her and six of her friends and family at Baker Street on Saturday and we headed off to Wembley. I'd not been there since the 80's, blimey it's all changed hasn't it? How fab that the new tube station is bang opposite. Last time I went that wasn't the case, it was the long old route march. We were there four hours before the gates opened just to queue up and I had the best laugh ever. It reminded me of my youth sleeping out for Bay City Rollers' tickets.
When they let us in we bagged some seats right by the pitch so that we'd have the option of sitting or joining in the scrum by the stages. As it turned out I stood by my seat for most of it (and paid the price with knackered feet and knees afterwards!). I did venture into the mob for a couple of the old tunes, but there was no chance of getting close to the band.
The build-up was great fun, the screens ran several advertisements, the most hilarious being ones for Tena Lady! Talk about knowing your market! I was blown away to see all these women from 30-60, all reliving their youth (or in my case my mid-30's). There were three mums in their nice white jeans and yellow Take That t-shirts who were great entertainment as they danced on the pitch to The Pet Shop Boys.
I was grateful for them being the support act - or "Special Guests" as Neil Tennant kept saying - apart from the great tunes, my ex-Smash Hits Features Editor Neil is at least five years older than me. By the looks of this photo, he's avoided the Botox/facelift route too!
They only did about 25 minutes and that was just enough really. For some bizarre reason they thought this was the place to air new tunes. A cracking 30 minutes of the Greatest Hits would've made more sense.
Around 8.15 it was time for the Main Event. I haven't felt this excited in ages! There they were. Live. On Stage. Take That!!!!!!!! Only four of them though. They ran through some of the tunes from the first comeback album "Hold Up A Light" "Patience" "Shine". It was fantastic! Of course to actually see any faces I had to stare at the screen, but that was ok.
The four of them disappeared and it was time for the Robbie Williams show. Wow. I've not seen Rob for years - Kentish Town Forum was the last live show I saw him do - and I'd forgotten how amazing he is. He was in his element and clearly happy to be back. It was sheer bliss. Especially when he did one of my favourite songs "Come Undone". He did "Angels" and that brought a tear to my eye as I recalled how much my Dad liked it.
After Rob's bit, it was time for the reunion. All five lads onstage together. If you're a fan you've already read all the press, or seen the show for yourself, if you're not you won't be interested, but it really felt good to see them all mates again, and boy did the old songs sound fabulous! "Pray" "Back For Good" - which always reminds me of Smug Roberts' 'bit' - "A Million Love Songs" and so many more. What a perfect night!
posted by JoJo Smith at Monday, July 04, 2011
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