Over the years, I’ve been to a wide range of gigs, from Madness to Scouting for Girls and even the Proclaimers of all people. But I had never felt a sense of excitement and anticipation quite like that outside the Edinburgh Playhouse as everyone waited for the doors to open for ‘Gary Barlow: In Concert 2018’. The audience demographic was one-sided, let’s put it that way. Middle aged women hung around in groups as they waited to see the man of their dreams for the past 20 years. Despite being one of very few guys in the whole audience, the gig was better than I could ever have imagined.
In small intimate venues like the Playhouse, the support act always has the important job of getting the crowd going. For the Scottish dates on his tour, Barlow had chosen Scottish singer/song-writer, KT Tunstall, and the crowd were soon chanting the lyrics of her hits including ‘Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’ and ‘Suddenly I See’.
Then came the main event. Barlow strutted out onto the stage with his full band, looking half his age with dyed blonde hair.
About to go on! pic.twitter.com/jiS61CzmPk
— Gary Barlow (@GaryBarlow) April 16, 2018
In his previous solo tour in 2014, Barlow managed to get the right mix between his own songs and the classic singalong Take That tunes that we all know and love. In this way, he started as he meant to go on. He appeared on stage to greet his ecstatic fans before banging away on his trusty piano to one of his trademark solo hits, ‘Since I Saw You Last’. A smooth transition into ‘Greatest Day’ followed with the crowd singing along with Barlow and his backing singers.
Throughout the rest of the nearly two-hour gig, he managed to keep the 3000-strong audience wanting more, with a swing section, a ten-minute piano solo, as well as inviting a rather shell-shocked Spanish lady onto the stage before serenading her with Take That’s renowned love ballad ‘A Million Love Songs’. These highlighted the components of a classic Barlow concert and when hits such as ‘Relight My Fire’ and ‘Let Me Go’ appeared, the crowd went wild.
Personally, I felt like there were some notable absentees from the set list, including the band’s 2010 comeback single ‘The Flood’ as well as his much-loved duet with Elton John ‘Face to Face’. However, as the crowd leapt to their feet as one and raised their hands for the finale ‘Never Forget’, it was clear to see that Gary Barlow has certainly not lost his touch as a singer, songwriter and perhaps most importantly, an entertainer.
This is what it’s all about. Live. 2 hours of escapism and entertaining a great crowd. Love being in that moment #gbsolo2018 pic.twitter.com/Xoeq8Y26c7
— Gary Barlow (@GaryBarlow) April 17, 2018
