Take That announce Dublin date

Take That are to play Croke Park next June as part of their first tour as a complete group for 16 years.

Tue, 26 Oct, 2010 - 11:30

Take That are to play Croke Park next June as part of their first tour as a complete group for 16 years.

The five-piece have promised a “feast for the imagination” with their summer stadium tour which kicks off next May.

Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald confirmed the tour, Progress Live 2011, at a press conference in London today.

``Take That are going back on tour,'' Gary Barlow announced at a press conference.

Bandmate Mark Owen added: “It really was the worst-kept secret, wasn’t it?”

The last time the five-piece performed together was in 1995.

This 14-date UK tour will end with six dates in Europe and feature Take That’s biggest hits from the last two decades.

It will also see Williams, who rejoined his old bandmates earlier this year after they reunited without him in 2005, perform songs from his solo career.

Progress Live 2011 is billed as a “feast for the imagination, charting the evolution and progress of Take That and Robbie Williams through their extraordinary 20-year history.”

UK tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday.

The band won the Hall of Fame gong at the Q Awards on Monday, where they made their first public appearance since Williams rejoined.

Take That will feature in a new ITV1 programme documenting their reunion.

The newly restored line-up are making their comeback with a single 'The Flood' and album 'Progress', both due next month.

The band revealed they were considering having a creche backstage on tour but would not give away the theme of the extravaganza.

Williams responded in typical humour to questions about whether some Take That fans did not think the band needed him any more.

Asked what he would say to those fans, he said: “See you on May 30 (the first tour date).”

Asked if he was returning only because he was not doing so well in his solo career, he said: “The greatest hits album was number one in 14 countries. My last album sold more than Circus. At the risk of sounding like a sourpuss, f**k off.”

Barlow said: “We’ve got a little bit of a theme but we’re not going to give that away now.

“It will be a big production show. It’s not going to be a stripped-back acoustic set. We’re looking forward to coming up with big ideas for it to be a spectacular again.”

Owen joked: “When Robbie watched the Circus tour he said ’I want to do that but with me in it.’ He’ll be walking the wire.”

Williams said of the tour: “I’m going to be doing a bit. The lads are going to be doing a bit. And we’re all going to be doing a bit.”

Asked whether their families would be joining them, Owen said: “I don’t know. That’s up to them. We have talked about having a creche backstage this time.

“They have got school so it’s difficult for them to come out of school. They get in trouble...”

But he added: “A creche on the road has been talked about.”

Williams said he was ready for the energetic dance routines, saying: “I’m really looking forward to it. When I left I didn’t think I would ever say I’m really looking forward to dancing and rehearsing.

“I’m looking forward to it. Yes I will be dancing of sorts.”

Asked whether they would be wearing skimpy outfits, he joked: “I think all our arses are due to come out again.”

Orange said they were a very different band to the group that performed together all those years ago.

“We had a lot of fun in the early years ... and a great laugh but it wasn’t very honest really. We were so guided, so manufactured. Now it feels a lot more real.”

Williams admitted: “The first time around there was a lot of power struggles with everybody. This time there just isn’t.”

The band larked about at the press conference, each announcing a tour date, with Williams joking about pint-size Owen not being visible behind his mic.

Owen said he had dubbed Barlow “Captain Kirk” because he was a Star Trek fan, so Robbie would be a “Klingon” – the Star Trek villain.

Williams, who had let slip about the tour in recent weeks, admitted: “I think I spoilt it by telling everybody”.

The newly-married star said he did not feel worried about Progress Live not matching the success of previous Take That tours.

“Having been part of the process of coming up with the ideas this time around, I can safely say it’s going to be cool and we’re not worried because we have got the ideas,” the 'Angels' singer said.

His former rival Barlow said: “Having Robbie alongside us is going to be amazing... this has been a long time coming for us so we’re really looking forward to it.”

Orange added that when the band announced in 2005 that they were reforming they “believed it was going to be a one-off trip down memory lane.”

He added: “Here we are with Rob on tour”.

Orange said the band would be combining dance routines with “silliness” as they were now in their 40s.

Barlow said of starting the tour in Sunderland: “Historically Take That have always started out tours in the North East because we find the crowds are really good for starting our tours up there.”

Progress Live 2011 UK tour dates:

Monday May 3 - Sunderland Stadium of Light

Friday June 3 - City of Manchester Stadium

Saturday June 4 - City of Manchester Stadium

Sunday June 5 - City of Manchester Stadium

Tuesday June 7 - City of Manchester Stadium

Tuesday June 14 - Cardiff Millennium Stadium

Saturday June 18 - Dublin Croke Park

Wednesday June 22 - Glasgow Hampden Park

Thursday June 23 - Glasgow Hampden Park

Monday June 27 - Birmingham Villa Park

Friday July 1- Wembley Stadium