Can You Gig It?: Take That @ London O2, 7.12.07

Gadget girl Susi Weaser - editor of Shiny Shiny - went to see Take That and their Weakest Link-esque stage set the other night. I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to know whether any of the dear old codgers collapsed during the show. Let’s have a look.
How did you rate the venue?
As much as I hate to admit it, the O2 is a great venue. Yes, it’s ages away from anything, and yes, it costs £6 for a hotdog, but the chairs are cushioned and have cupholders. That makes a great venue, in my book.
Also, Take That (herein shortened to TT, to promote a false feeling of closeness to the band) spent a third of the performance on a round stage in the middle of the crowd. I don’t think magical is too strong a word.

What were the crowd like?
Hideous. It made me never want to leave the house again. There were *a lot* of TT-themed T-shirts customised at Snappy Snaps.
Was the support act any good or did it send you to the bar?
Sophie Ellis Bextor – always better than you think she’s going to be. Also, AMAZING legs. My friend and I spent most of her performance discussing how much money we would realistically pay for them. My friend was willing to sell her flat (actually, strictly speaking it’s her boyfriend’s flat, so it’s not such a sacrifice).
Bar – rip-off or value for money?
See £6 hotdogs. Still, there is every restaurant under the sun at the O2, so if you get there early you can have your dinner in a slightly chilly place devoid of atmosphere, rather than actually at your seats.
Venue staff – nice or nasty?

Neither nice nor nasty, although there was an odd moment when we walked down the stairs and saw a line of about 14 security men, all blatantly talking about which stair-walkers they would shag. Actually, perhaps that falls more into the nasty category.
Toilets – swilling with piss, or spick and span?
Spick and span, but why did a supposed women’s toilet consist of two toilet cubicles and a long line of urinals? Hmmm?

Highlight / lowlight of show?
Never Forget – everyone loves a choreographed dance. The whole thing was completely brilliant, you can’t fault them. Except perhaps for the bizarre late-90s sounding dance track Howard managed to shoehorn in about half way through. But that was amusing in itself, as they all had black hoodies on and you could still pick out which one was dancing like Gary.

Any other comments?
Howard looked at me. Straight at me. I swear. (Howard, if you’re reading this, I was the one crying. Call me.)