Take That have staged some of the most elaborate tours in music history, but their early days were far from polished. In an exclusive interview, Mark Owen recalled a touring disaster where microphones would fall off mid-performance, leaving the band struggling to maintain dignity.
It has been 36 years since five fresh-faced lads from Manchester burst onto the music scene with leather codpieces, impressive dance routines, and high-energy pop songs. Since then, Take That have amassed 12 number-one singles and nine number-one albums, staging some of the most breathtaking live shows of the 21st century. Their 2006 comeback surprised everyone, including themselves, and is considered one of the most successful in pop history.
This summer, Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, and Howard Donald are bringing their sparkle back to the stage with a revived and revamped The Circus Live tour, a 17-date stadium extravaganza that cements their status as one of the most adored boybands of all time.
The Early Struggles
Before the era of streaming and social media, Take That traveled up and down the country in manager Nigel Martin-Smith's transit van, performing at every opportunity—predominantly gay clubs and school assembly halls—to build a following. Mark Owen recalls: "Everybody was so nice and so welcoming, and it was our start, and I really appreciate that start. We couldn't afford five radio mics, so we had little £10 microphones with the wires off, and Gary would have a live mic."
He added: "We'd dance away and had all these moves, and at some point try and do a breakdance move, and the end of your mic would fall off, but you're still up there in your cycling shorts, with your mic hanging off, trying to do your thing, trying to look dignified. And still really believing that it's real."
A Legacy of Spectacle
Music writer Michael Cragg credits Take That's live shows with changing the landscape of live performances. "They don't generally get the credit they deserve for turning pop into a proper stadium-worthy event, but their incredible staging and performances have influenced a lot of bands and solo artists who have followed," he said. "Nowadays, we're used to artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé taking their huge tours around the world, but before Take That's Progress Live tour, we hadn't ever seen a giant robot rise up and walk across the middle of a stadium."
The trio's upcoming tour promises no-expense-spared spectacle with fire breathers, unicycles, stilt walkers, acrobats, and the return of the 20ft mechanical elephant. Gary Barlow said: "I've experienced a lot of good things in my life but very little comes close to how it felt standing on the back of that elephant as it lifted above the audience. Watching the faces in the crowd look up at us in awe is something I'll never forget."
From Boyband to Manband
After early flops, Take That achieved back-to-back number ones with singles like "Pray," "Relight My Fire," and "Babe" in 1993, followed by "Everything Changes" in 1994. However, fame brought egos and disharmony, leading to Robbie Williams's departure in 1995 and the band's split six months later. Jason Orange later reflected: "Things became too chaotic. We were all getting too much money, perhaps. Egos became too inflated and tensions just started to come about among us all."
A decade later, prompted by a generous response to their 2005 documentary For The Record, Gary, Jason, Mark, and Howard announced a comeback tour. The 33-date tour of the UK and Ireland sold 275,000 tickets in under three hours. Peter Hart, former editor of Top of the Pops magazine, said: "Nobody had ever achieved this scale of comeback before. They were no longer a boyband loved only by teen girls; they had matured into a manband and their fans had matured with them."
With 45 million records sold worldwide and a stadium tour on the horizon, the band has nothing left to prove. As Mark Owen says, on stage "is where Take That belong."
