Take That fans were forgiving of their way of remembering lyrics (Picture: Getty)
Take That kicked off their 2024 world tour in Sheffield earlier this week and fans have spotted the way the trio remember their song lyrics on stage.
The veteran boyband, who formed in 1990, began their first major tour in five years at the Steel City’s Utilita Arena, playing to a sell-out crowd of 13,000 people.
And when it came time to perform a song that’s over 30 years old now, some of the 13,000 fans in attendance noticed a clever but hilarious trick Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, and Howard Donald were using to remember the words.
The trio was singing I Found Heaven, from their 1992 album Take That & Party, when fans spotted a teleprompter spelling out the lyrics for them on stage.
It’s not one of Take That’s best-known singles – only charting at number 15 in the UK – and Gary, 53, himself has previously described the song as ‘f***ing awful’ and the group’s worst ‘by a huge margin’.
The trio were using a teleprompter during their gig in Sheffield (Picture: SplashNews)
On the setlist, I Found Heaven was sandwiched between A Million Love Songs and Patience, with the group performing 29 of their hits for almost three hours.
However, fans were forgiving of the decision to use the teleprompter, with one saying that with ‘so many great hits’ that it would be hard to remember the words to all of them.
Some of Gary’s monologues between songs were also typed out on the prompter, with the Cheshire-born singer looking back at Take That’s beginnings in Manchester, describing the city as ‘the place to be’ in the 1980s and 1990s.
Gary also made sure he didn’t forget the words to his banter with the crowd (Picture: SplashNews)
The teleprompters were spotted by fans during the show (Picture: SplashNews)
The Never Forget hitmakers originally split in 1996 after Robbie Williams left the group to go solo, but reformed without Robbie in 2006 and achieved great success with their comeback album Beautiful World.
Robbie, 50, re-joined the group shortly afterward, forming part of the line-up for their third comeback album Progress, but left once again in 2014, continuing to work with Gary on new music after his second departure.
In the 2010s, Robbie was soon followed out of the group by original member Jason Orange, who insisted there had been no arguments or disagreements between the remaining members.
Take That are a trio these days after Robbie Williams and Jason Orange left the group (Picture: Getty)
Since then, Take That have continued working as a trio, releasing their latest album This Life in 2023 – this latest tour is in support of its unveiling last year.
The tour will last for 41 dates, visiting several cities in the UK and Ireland before jetting off to Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Abu Dhabi, and New Zealand.
In preparation for the tour, Take That joined Lulu on-stage at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester to perform their hit single together, Relight My Fire, on the same day Lulu announced she would be retiring from live performances this summer.
The 1960s singer, who broke out with her top 10 hit Shout in 1967, said she would be performing at the Glastonbury Festival in June before calling time on her seven-decade career.
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