Take That The Circus Tour Manchester Etihad review: a euphoric celebration of pop

Take That The Circus Tour Manchester Etihad review: a euphoric celebration of pop Back For Good with their biggest show to date, Take That's The Circus show is high camp, high energy, and even higher joy. A multi-generational delight for all ages - fans can livestream it tonight It was a grand homecoming for Take That last night. Formed in Manchester in 1990, the boyband produced some of the biggest pop bangers of a generation. And, 36 years on it seems they really are Back For Good, still filling out stadiums, packing out the Etihad for the first of three sold out shows in the city. To the delight of fans who loved it the first time round, Take That - now a slick trio of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen - relaunched their The Circus tour - a visual feast of acrobats, fire eaters, clowns and tightrope walkers - first performed in 2009. Excitingly, fans who missed out on tickets are able to watch it tonight, as Amazon Music has announced it will exclusively livestream the band's second night at the Etihad on Prime Video, the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and the Amazon Music app, which is also available on Fire TV. Second time round, I have to say it’s even better. I took my six year old Molly for her first ever gig. And what a gig it was. “It’s like The Greatest Showman,” she said, as a hot air balloon ascended over the arena - the highest accolade a six year old can give. With bejewelled costumes, and dance moves straight out of 1993, the show was high camp, high energy and even high joy. Kicking off proceedings with Greatest Day, Hello, Could It Be Magic and Pray, so began a set stuffed with wall to wall hits. It was clear Take That didn’t come to play - they came to entertain. “Goodness I’m hot,” said Mark, glistening with sweat in the stuffy Mancunian heat. After A Million Love Songs and Back For Good concluded the first act on the B stage, in the middle of the stadium, a large mechanical elephant carried the lads to the main stage for Shine, Babe and Never Forget. A veritable sweet shop of special effects, confetti, fireworks, gargantuan balloons and pillars of flames thrilled the crowd. After painting their faces with clown make-up, Howard and Mark rode a unicycle down the walkway for It Only Takes A Minute. Gary chose a trike for the job. All three remained unscathed. “This is the song that brought us back from our 10 year holiday,” said Gary of Patience, as the show drew closer to its conclusion. Hold Up A Light and Rule The World then finished things off. A glittering celebration of pop music, The Circus is a multi-generational show which delights all ages from start to finish. Gary, Howard and Mark work damn hard - and their fans love them as much in 2026 as they did in the 90s. After 36 years, Take That remain at the top of the game. Other bands may do well to take note. *Fans listen up! Amazon Music has today announced that it will exclusively livestream Take That’s highly anticipated Circus Live Tour on Saturday 20th June for the sold-out show at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium. It will be available to watch on Prime Video, the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and the Amazon Music app, which is also available on Fire TV.