Riding high on their comeback success,
Take That did a two-month tour in summer 2009 that set a new record for the fastest-selling tour in U.K. history.
The Greatest Day: The Circus Live documents the final stop on the tour, a massive show for over 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London on July 5, 2009. This was the second tour by
Take That since reuniting in 2006 without
Robbie Williams.
Take That had broken up ten years earlier in 1996 after taking over the English pop world with Take That & Party (1992),
Everything Changes (1993), and Nobody Else (1995), a trio of multi-platinum albums filled with smash hits. While all five bandmembers pursued different solo opportunities in the wake of their 1996 split,
Williams was the only one to make it as a star on his own, and when the reunion came around ten years later, he declined to participate. The other four bandmembers,
Gary Barlow,
Howard Donald,
Jason Orange, and
Mark Owen, got back together nonetheless, recorded the comeback album
Beautiful World (2006), and mounted a concert tour with
Sugababes as their opening act. Their comeback proved so successful,
Take That went about recording another album, The Circus, and planning another tour.
The Greatest Day: The Circus Live finds the band on a roll, playing its final date after performing sold-out shows across England, Scotland, and Wales. They sing all the hits from
Beautiful World ("Patience," "Shine," "I'd Wait for Life") and The Circus ("Greatest Day," "Up All Night," "Said It All"). There are nine songs overall from The Circus, whose "Hold Up a Light" is performed during the finale along with the 2007 chart-topper "Rule the World." The older hits are few and far between with just a couple songs each from
Everything Changes ("Pray," "Relight My Fire") and Nobody Else ("Back for Good," "Never Forget"). In addition to the Wembley show, there's an 11-track live-in-the-studio session at Abbey Road that includes many of the same songs in a more controlled context. ~ Jason Birchmeier