With over 20 years of experience in the music industry,
seeing Gary Barlow live is essentially a big sing-along. He’s collected fans young and old along the
way to becoming mother’s favourite, the Queen’s favourite and of course showered
in underwear.
But there’s more to Barlow than this. Behind the commercial success, the sex symbol
and the X-Factor judge is an incredibly talented songwriter and performer. There’s a reason Take That are Britain’s most
successful boy band – Barlow’s songs.
The set-list of his live show consists of a Take That best of, in
addition to his solo material from albums ‘Open Road’ and ‘Twelve Months,
Eleven Days’, last year’s Sing (here
without the Military Wives choir) and Candy
(written for Robbie Williams) amongst others.
Every song is a memorable hit, each one a defining moment in a long
career. Some even had to be combined in
a medley to make room in the set. Barlow
knows how to construct a great pop song – the euphoric choruses of Patience and Greatest Day especially. His
music is like a warm hug, putting a smile on your face and making you feel all
fuzzy inside.
That’s not to say his music is formulaic or his performances
tired. Far from it. Even without the boys Barlow is a consummate
entertainer, singing in a softly crooning tenor that was particularly shown off
in his renditions of Sinatra classic I’ve Got You Under My Skin and Van Morrison's Moondance –
both sung to reflect his love of singing.
Yet he wasn’t always alone on stage.
His band (many of which he’s toured with for the majority of his career)
were tight and dependable, whilst support act Nell Bryden joined him for a
duet. Her own material, performed
earlier on, was an impassioned series of easy-listening songs before the main
event. James Corden made a surprise
appearance, turning Pray into a duet
complete with original dance routine (Barlow’s still got it – just). And his generosity extended to allowing an
on-stage proposal from a member of the audience to great shrieks and applause. The only disappointment was a lack of female
voice for the Relight My Fire middle
eight.
What’s also notable about Barlow is his humility. He’s not afraid to poke fun at himself,
joking about the lower points in his career, displaying some (presumably
embarrassing) old images during the encore of Never Forget and the tongue-in-cheek routine with Corden. Barlow is a humble gent, grateful for his
supportive fans and deserving of his success – proof that nice guys do come first.
Despite being in the minuscule male contingent of the
audience, I’m not ashamed to say it was bloody brilliant.
4/5