By Alisha Lawton
Songwriting legend, Gary Barlow, was back in his hometown of Manchester, playing a massive show at the O2 Apollo on his Songbook Tour. After finishing a massive arena and stadium tour with Take That in 2024, Gary now takes on the smaller venues.
As the show began, there was a curtain covering the stage. The lights went down and the voice of Gary Barlow sounded through the venue as he introduced himself and hyped up the audience: ‘Are you ready Manchester?!’
Soon the curtain fell to the floor and the band took centre stage as the first bars played out. Every single person in the audience stood on their feet and sang along to Open Road as Gary sat at the piano and did his signature point out into the audience.
Before you knew it, you were singing a Take That classic – Greatest Day. As I looked around the venue, all I could see was people singing and dancing along to the beat, and when the song came to a close, confetti punched through the air which gained a cheer, starting the set with a bang.
Moments before the next song, Gary came on to say a quick hello and told us he was going to take us ‘back to 2020’, and went on to sing Incredible from his Music Played by Humans album – the same album that gained him the top spot on the UK Music chart.
Gary moved energetically, up and down the stage, dancing with his backing singers and the brass section of his band, and at the end of the song he turned to the audience and said: ‘I’m sure you’ll agree how incredible this band is’, definitely true, but also a funny ode to the song title. The crowd cheered in response, to which Gary introduced his band members one by one, who each played a small melody on their instruments.
We were told how incredible it was for him be back in the north and that he couldn’t believe how much it had changed since he was last here, before he thanked everyone for coming and joked that there were many other concerts the audience could’ve taken a jolly to on this particular Thursday night.
The next part of the show was morphed into a swing melody of hit songs from the 90s – the first being one of Take That’s biggest songs, Sure, and a jazzed-up version of another hit single, Everything Changes. The crowd loved every second of this section of the set, and the band were in their element. Reimagining the beloved songs many have kept in their hearts for so many years gives them a new life in 2025, and lets them live on through these live shows.
During the song Shine, Gary brought a spotlight onto the stage that he shone into the audience. He told them that if the light were to hit them, they should wave their hands and dance as much as they can.
As much as this was a good idea on paper – connecting the fans with the artist – I think the point was slightly missed as you could hear mutters of ‘that was bright’ and ‘I couldn’t see a thing’ among the audience. A concept like this would have definitely worked better in an arena rather than the more theatre-like setting of the O2 Apollo, but it was still a cheery gesture.
Gary then asked the audience if they knew what they hadn’t seen yet, and someone responded ‘a dance routine’ so he immediately went into busting out the iconic Take That Pray dance and at the end of the song, Gary joked that ‘it gets harder every year’ which gained him a laugh from the fans in the audience that have seen him do that very same dance for many years.
Something different about this show was that it was divided into very clear sections, but this next section was not at all surprising for a Gary Barlow show – when he sat at the piano.
The surprising thing was when he asked the audience to sit down for the next 3 songs of the set, where he joked about the people in the audience who didn’t want to stand for the duration of the two-hour long show. He also laughed about the fact that he didn’t think he would ever get a cheer from an audience after telling them to sit down.
After performing his latest single, If There’s Not A Song About It, in duet with one of his backing singers, he told the audience that if they were looking for true authentic songs, then the place they’d find them was when he was sat at a piano, where he stayed and sang another massive Take That hit, called Love Ain’t Here Anymore.
As the set came to a close, it was clear to see that there are definitely songs within the set that Gary still adores, but on the latter, there may be songs he may not want to play but possibly he feels he owes to the audience.
Overall, when it comes to a Gary Barlow show, you always know what you’re in for – the set remains full of Take That hits and people love it. Despite this, and on the flip side, the shows don’t get worse, but they never seem to get any better… is that because Gary is still at the top of his game or is it because people love Take That and will support the members till the very end?
The gig was very entertaining and full of life, and gave the vibes of a good night out, full of nostalgic hits.
Unless otherwise stated, Photography & Text Copyright 2025 © Alisha Lawton/ADRENALINE Magazine.
Oliver Galbraith 
Tyler Whiting 
Darcy Mitchell