SNEAK

If you think the temperature is hot out front of a Take That gig, you should be backstage beforehand - which is exactly where we went for a quick sneak about on the current tour!

4:30 pm

Arriving at the sound check, at the Glasgow gig, the boys run the gauntlet of the hundreds of fans already queuing up for that night's show. Mark does a bit of a royal walkabout. "You mean you've all turned out to see little me and my show?" he gasps, as 15 fans all try to shake his hand at once!

4:35 pm

"Make way for me and my guitar!" Jason, true to form, arrives with his bag and his trusty acoustic. "Right, where's catering? Get that kettle on, chaps!"

5:00 pm

While the technicians are out front fiddling with the lighting and 10 miles of cable, the boys take five and relax before they get down to a spot of real work. "You're always stuffing your face, Rob!" grimaces Gary, who's none too keen on the smell of bananas.

5:10 pm

"Mmm, just a little squirt so I don't pong like that Rob!" Gary sprays himself with his favourite eau de cologne and does a quick spot check. 5:20 pm

"Och aye, yo kilt!" And what a fine kilt it is too! Never one to do anything by halves, in honour of the local crowd, Rob dons the biggest kilt he can lay his hands on.

5:45 pm

The lads have a laugh while the roadies are moving the stage set around. "Jason, what are you looking for? Did all you brain cells fall out during that last backflip?"

6:00 pm

"Phew! That's the lot shined up! Honestly, just because I was late this morning, they made me polish up our tin hats for the first number as a forfeit!" (Mark)

6:30 pm

"Don't be stingy with those profiteroles, matey!" Gary tucks into a large portion of delicious-looking chocolate dessert after scoffing a huge roast dinner. Careful, Gaz, you've got a lot of jumping around to do later!

6:45 pm

And look who's turned up for dinner! "I think I might get up and do a little number this evening, Mark!" trills Lulu.

7:00 pm

"Think I'll just have a quick shower!" pouts Howard. Any excuse to get his shirt off!

7:30 pm

The countdown to showtime is on! Rob poses by a rack of clothes as worn by the mini-Take That during their It Only Takes a Minute bit. "Don't all those little shoes look dinky?" he giggles. "I could just about get one big toe into those!"

7:45 pm

Only minutes to go before curtain up and Gary is having a bit of a fashion crisis. "Argh! I knew I shouldn't have eaten that last profiterole! This belt did up on the first notch two hours ago!" That'll teach Gaz to stuff his face before a show! OK now, boys...YOU'RE ON!

Back to Listing of Available Articles