The Entertainer.

Gary Barlow at the Motorpoint Sheffield Arena.




I’ve kept this back until the end of the football season but a few days ago we ventured over to Sheffield to see Gary Barlow. It was my wife’s birthday present. I was considerably outnumbered by ladies of a certain age, not that it was any great hardship for me.

We’d got top of the range seats, not on this occasion out of my great generosity but because I was quite late booking them and the most expensive were the only ones left. We were on the VIP list too.

Now when I say top of the range I mean very near the stage, the seats themselves were nothing like as plush as those at the Drill Hall and it was just as well they were close as the moment the show started the whole audience rose to their feet, my five foot and a bit wife considerably dismayed that she was now enjoying a view of the backs of the people in the row in front. We also queued for ages only to find we could have gone straight up to the VIP area to receive our gifts, a shopping bag, mug and a signed programme. Unsigned versions were being sold at £15 though so that made it a bit better and the mugs are a nice souvenir I suppose.

That’s got the moans out of the way, the rest was pure pleasure. Barlow really is fantastic live and I can’t wait to see the upcoming TV programme with James Corden because he certainly hasn’t had it all his own way career wise. All the well known songs were featured although he didn’t do my favourite, This House and Take That numbers were fully covered. In fact he revealed they will be back on tour next year and I certainly will want to see that show.

There is a part of the performance where a member of the audience is invited up to have a song delivered just for her. You may just have seen this on Central local news, the woman was from Derby. The lady in question was in such a frenzy of excitement I thought she was going to need oxygen. She said she had done it for the children at her school, yeah right.

That lady will never forget her night at the Sheffield Arena and neither will we, it was amazing.