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Last Tour Night - Manchester


Val4Gareth
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Really looking forward to this Val - hope Gareth has allowed plenty of time to get here as I've just heard the Radio 2 update on travel and it sounds awful coming over from the east! Also, annoyingly after a lovely week weather wise, it's turned really cold and wet - typical!!

No doubt Doris and I will enjoy it and let you know how it went.

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I went to the tour last night in Manchester with ValR,what a fantastic night we had,it was the best Gareth show ever.Thought the girl group and Jai were brilliant singers but had no charisma or stage presence at all.

The theatre was only 1/2 full during their performances,In the interval after Jai had sung the theatre started to fill up ready for Gareth. A group of young men came in wearing Gareth masks(had his current hairstyle)they were chanting Gareth's name and they were very vocal all night.When pete and the drummer Adam came out ready to introduce Gareth the young men started singing "Anyone of us",they also sang happy birthday to Wendy much to G.amusment when he introduced AOMS.and was saying it was her birthday on Tuesday. Every song G finished they chanted his name and bowed up and down as if paying homage to him they danced and sang along all night.

The theatre was packed and the noise was deafening,Gareth was loving the reaction from the crowd ,I only saw him rub his throat a couple of times,you couldn't tell he was having problems with his voice at all.I was only a few feet away from G when he played the piano,his fingers just brushed the keys so lightly it was just beautiful.

There were a few celebrities as well as Faye's family sitting with his Mum, Dad and Jessica.

Don't know whether he met people after the show,we went straight home .

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Thanks for posting your fab report from Manchester Doris . It does sound a fantastic night , it made me whish I was there . I'm glad the place was packed for Gareth , it's sounds a big success for Gareth . I wonder who were the chaps with Gareth's facemask on ? I did read some tweets from the night , saying how brilliant Gareth was and how great were the Gareth fans. I'm glad you enjoyed watching Gareth sing and play the piano :thumbsup:

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Thank you for your fantastic review of the gig Doris. So glad you enjoyed it and that Gareth was such a success with the crowd, especially the young men.

I saw on Twitter that Natalie who used to come on the site took her 2 year old Daughter who had lots of pics with Gareth holding her kissing and hugging her. Nat says Isabelle hasn't stopped talking about Gareth since. She didn't have meet & Greet I don't think so it must have been during or after the show.

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I saw on Twitter that Natalie who used to come on the site took her 2 year old Daughter who had lots of pics with Gareth holding her kissing and hugging her. Nat says Isabelle hasn't stopped talking about Gareth since. She didn't have meet & Greet I don't think so it must have been during or after the show.

I think she did have a meet and greet Val as Isabelle had the tag round her neck for the first half of the show,she was lovely and danced non stop for the whole show(all the performers). It was very confusing with the tickets at Manchester.they were unreserved seats and most people didn't know there had been a meet and greet with Gareth before the show.There was no stage the band were set up at floor level,when G told people to come down and join the party at the latter part of his set, security had a job to keep people back from all the equipment. Gareth had to keep telling people to be careful as they were grabbing hold of him,he was really enjoying it though having selfie pictures with them as he sang.

Jai did a meet and greet in the 2nd interval after he'd performed.

Editing name,Isabelle not Issabella.

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I think she did have a meet and greet Val as Issabella had the tag round her neck for the first half of the show

Ah, that explains it then. She said on Twitter she didn't have any, but someone must have told her how to get them, She's a gorgeous little girl isn't she.

That sounds quite dangerous for Gareth. Thank goodness the security managed to keep everyone under control.

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Thanks Doris - you are much better at reporting than I am!

We had a fantastic night, can't believe how close we were and the atmosphere was just amazing! Lots of men in the audience who enjoyed it and joined it, as Doris said, the 4 young men in the Gareth masks had a brilliant time and sang along to all his songs! It was good to see the family group come in which also included Matt Evers and Hayley Tammadon, unfortunately for them because it was so full they were at the back up at theatre!

It was by far the best Gareth show I've been to and so happy to see Gareth playing the keyboards and having such an interaction with the audience. Hoping to see another tour like this soon.

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Thanks for great reports Dorral and Valr.

We are so lucky to get these first hand snippets.

So glad it was a great night and these was a great turn out of family and celebs to supporting Gareth.

Every song G finished they chanted his name and bowed up and down as if paying homage to him they danced and sang along all night

I wonder if these were the same guys who were at Hyde Park when Gareth was there?Think they were dressed up as scarecrows that day?

Thanks again.

Just a shame it was the final night but what a fabulous week it has been for everyone.

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Guest NicolaJayne

Thank you Dorral and ValR for your lovely reports from Manchester, a bit worrying the theatre being half empty but great that it started to fill up when Gareth came on, seems strange that there was no stage at Manchester and a bit dangerous.

Also find it strange that the meet and greets seem to have been kept so quiet, makes me wonder if only the people who booked the original gig in June were the only ones told about it.

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Last Friday, I went to Manchester to see Gareth's Greatest Hits Tour for the second time (has it really been a week?). I had booked for the original gig in the summer but for some bizarre reason I hadn't bought a VIP ticket (something that I've since regretted). At the last minute I decided to go to Birmingham on Monday but at such a late stage VIP tickets were no longer available. However, as the most important thing was to hear Gareth sing and as I was rather worried about his voice lasting out for the week, I went anyway and met up with Val, Chris and Yvonne. I had a lovely time but this report is supposed to be about the show in Manchester.

I had another brilliant time at the gig. If you've seen Gareth's picture of the venue on Twitter (and others posted by fans), you'll know that it was a real concert hall with tiered seating and several yards of dance floor between the stage area (not raised) and the front seats.

I arrived at the venue at about 4.15pm, in heavy rain and having travelled through heavy traffic (even an accident on the motorway that I'd been able to avoid), and parked in the University car park which was cheaper than that at RNCM, which also didn't open until 5pm. I walked around the building to find the stage door and found Gareth's car parked directly in front of it, so I knew he was there. Then I walked about a bit and got soaked. Luckily I was able to go into the RNCM, get some chips and a cup of tea, sit down, dry off and get warm. I was then able to sit on a comfy sofa right by the entrance to the concert hall where I could watch the queue forming for the Meet and Greet. There were signs up in various place giving details of when things were happening. Once the VIPs had been let in, I joined the queue.

The seating capacity was much larger than it had been at the Glee Club in Birmingham and early on it seemed disappointingly empty. However by the time Gareth performed most of the lower level (around 500 seats) was full. It was so full in fact that when Gareth's family and friends came in they had to sit right at the back. This group included Paul and Wendy, all of Gareth's sisters, some of Faye's family, Matt Evers, Hayley Tamaddon, other family and friends. Quite a few of the audience flocked to the back to talk to them and take photos.

Saw Val and Doris and had a chat before the show, but they left promptly at the end so didn't talk again. Have read both of their reports on here though, so I know they loved the show. The support acts, Cherry Bomb and Jai McDowell, had good enough voices but little charisma. Also their sound levels (at both gigs I saw) just didn't seem right – their voices seemed very distorted, especially on the louder sections of the songs.

Finally, just after 9pm, it was time for Gareth's set. Pete and Adam came out and, before Pete could introduce Gareth, the group on the other side of the hall that have been mentioned in other posts, started chanting his name and then singing 'Anyone Of Us'. This surprised Pete who commented that there had never been a chant before Gareth came on stage! The man himself then came out to huge cheers and applause.

Gareth seemed to have a brilliant time and didn't seem to struggle with his voice as much as he had earlier in the week. He absolutely oozed charisma and his stage presence was brilliant as usual. The audience was joining in with virtually everything he sang and Pete commented on it being the loudest audience on the tour. It was fantastic that Gareth played the keyboard for many of the tracks, showcasing another of his considerable talents, and the addition of Adam on drums/keyboard along with Pete (who's always amazing on guitar) produced a much fuller, rounded sound.

Gareth's covers of 'She's Like The Wind', 'All Of Me' and 'Thinking Out Loud' were particularly well-received (I adore his versions of these songs and you could tell that the audience was impressed). The set list is on the Newcastle thread, except that 'Just Close Your Eyes' should read 'Hold On Tight' and after 'Livin On A Prayer' he sang 'Don't Stop Me Now', which was supposedly the final song. (At Birmingham he also sang 'Stay' after 'Hold On Tight', which seemed to surprise Pete and Adam at the time.) As at the other shows, the band returned for an encore performing 'Spirit In The Sky', Gareth didn't play the keyboard though - he couldn't really sit down with most of the audience on their feet around the 'stage' and he actually stood on the piano stool a few times so that he could see everyone. A couple of security men were keeping an eye on things and asked a few people to move away from the equipment but generally didn't spoil the atmosphere. It was nice the next day to see a tweet from the security company saying that they'd enjoyed the evening.

This was a fantastic tour and I really enjoyed Gareth performing with a band that complemented him so well and that he sang so much of his own material. This is the type of gig I'd like to see more of, especially in small, intimate venues.

Journey home was quite eventful - heavy rain, lots of standing water, accident on other carriageway of M56 with police across the road stopping all the traffic (only ever seen that on TV before), road closed further on and a diversion, finally two consecutive exits from M6 closed including mine so another diversion - but I got home safely and it was worth it all to see Gareth again.

Love Linda xx

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What a fantastic report Linda.

All those finer details bring the show to life for all who have been to other venues and all who weren't able to make the tour.

The seating capacity was much larger than it had been at the Glee Club in Birmingham and early on it seemed disappointingly empty. However by the time Gareth performed most of the lower level (around 500 seats) was full. It was so full in fact that when Gareth's family and friends came in they had to sit right at the back. This group included Paul and Wendy, all of Gareth's sisters, some of Faye's family, Matt Evers, Hayley Tamaddon, other family and friends. Quite a few of the audience flocked to the back to talk to them and take photos.

This is nice to read.

It is dissapointing for the support acts not to have the audience but this happens so, so often at gigs. People only want to hear their favourites.

I know you drive miles and miles to see Gareth, returning in the early hours so glad you made it to this final gig.

Quite agree we need more of the same.

Thankyou.

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Loved reading it Linda and nice to see you and catch up. Sorry we didn't see you at the end but we just wanted to get back to the Metro - it took us about 15 minutes in the pouring rain! Sorry you had such an awful journey back, sounds horrendous on the motorways. The roads back home from the station were really flooded, wouldn't have liked your journey.

It was an amazing concert, so pleased Manchester gave such a brilliant reception and joined in with him! :thumbsup:

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