Week twenty-six

How is it half way through the year?  I don't understand how time works.  I only started this blog a few weeks ago.  But then, on the flip side, I still have another 26 things to find to do which seems like an impossible task.  Help me readers.......please.

In the meantime, at exactly the halfway stage on the weekend of July 1st, I gorged on some of the fantastic array of summer music shows on offer in the capital.
On Friday I witnessed something quite gobsmackingly brilliant.  I would go as far as to say that Take That at Wembley was the best concert I have ever been to.  I realise thats a bold claim especially since the previous owner of that title was U2 at Slane Castle supported by Coldplay and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers - a truly awesome experience. But. Oh. My. God.  You've never seen a band put such heart and soul and effort and charisma into a show.

Mr Williams was absent from the first section, while the other four performed their hits from "Beautiful World" and "The Circus".  During "Greatest Day" they ran up the long stage which extended almost half way into the stadium and near to where our group was standing and I will embarrassingly admit that when I saw Gary Barlow I had a small cry.  Yes I'm a complete loser but I'm not apologising for it.

Moving on, they sang "Rule the World" and "Patience" standing on huge platforms and bouncing from side to side so everyone got a great view. Costumes and dancers and theatrical extras all started emerging and it was like a scene from Alice in Wonderland when Mark sang "Shine" atop a giant purple caterpillar.  There was just so much to see that it was a spectacular opening.  Could it get any better?

Uh. Yes.  Enter Mr Robbie Williams with an absolute force. He literally exploded onto the stage for his opener "Let me Entertain You".  His facial expressions said it all - he could not get enough and clearly was back where he belonged.  He could not stand still and threw himself across the stage like an epileptic jumping bean followed by his harem of roller skater girls for "Rock DJ".  Each song was interspersed with his usual cheekiness and swagger, boasting about their record 8 nights at Wembley and taking the piss out of Ryan Giggs.  His finale was a stunning rendition of "Feel" hovering across the crowd on a moving platform.

While waiting for the boys to come on the theatrical performances continued with some insane acrobatics across the whole of the back wall and then a massive shower of rain as the newly formed five member band sang "Flood" from a bridge across the very top of the stage wall.  "Kids" was just immense with the military steps thundering through the stadium and the boys singing from huge regal thrones at the end of the stage and an army of gladiatorial dancers dressed in black and white.

Now I do have to point out that as much as I'm dribbling love and drool all over Take That I think their most recent album is pretty crap.  Its all a bit Euro House which is never good, never mind Take That trying to do it but I will say one thing, the songs sound so much better live.  SOS which on the album is   just noise was actually very good live and really worked so even the portion that I thought I wouldn't be keen on was good.  Back to dribbling and drooling.

Then, they brought out the big guns.  A ridiculous medley of "Babe", "Everything Changes", "It Only Takes a Minute" and the list goes on.  They even did the dancing which was just too cool for words.  "Back for Good" and "Pray" were just awesome and then of course they ended with "Never Forget" complete with their 80ft robot raising its hands in the air along with 85,000 others.  I didn't want it to end.

I was quite surprised to see that the audience seemed to be dominated by lots of big, old women.  Not to put too finer point on it but where did they all come from?  Surely, Take That is completely my generation, or younger.

The crowd at Wireless on Saturday however, was in another league.  Let me just say this.  Someone stumbled passed me at 5.30pm while throwing up on his own shoes.  Need I say more?
Headliners were Chemical Brothers, along with Chase and Status, The Streets and many others for dance day in Hyde Park.  I was lucky enough to get some guest tickets for myself and my friend Cath, so we spent a lot of the day in a lovely little enclosure with chairs and sofas and VIP toilets soaking up the sunshine and bitching about the Z-list celebrities.

Wireless is set up fairly well in terms of amenities - just like any other festival with plenty of bars, places to get food and several stages but perhaps the choice of artists and the fact that its so easy for people to get to means its exclusivity is rather tarnished.  Putting Chase and Status alongside Janelle Monae and Chromeo was a total mismatch in terms of their audience and it meant those performances were a little lost.  It was a shame actually as I really love Chromeo and they played a pretty cool set - apart from when I had to jump to avoid the vomit.

We also caught a bit of Justin Robertson, Battles and of course Chemical Brothers who always put on a good show but to be honest I think that a large portion of the audience came exclusively for Chase and Status and the other acts that have been achieving recent chart success.  Wireless seems to have found its place as a festival for the masses and if I was to compare it to Ibiza, I would say its a bit more San Antonio than Formentera.

No need to say that Take That was the highlight of the weekend for me but I still stayed at Wireless for 7 hours and had a really fun day and an awesome weekend of great music across London.

I have no idea what to expect from week 27 - an immersive theatre experience courtesy of Stella Artois Black.