Take That's signatures

I found a little piece of paper having to do with The Circus Tour (some kind of agreement) a while ago; it was signed on 21 November 2008 by all Take That members and the signatures are by far the most interesting part of it. So here they are !

Btw: the agreement took effect on 25 November 2008 and I believe it was signed in London.

Edit: just as a reminder - those signatures are from a public document which everyone does have access to. They were on the internet already before I even knew this document (which is completely harmless btw) exists and I am just summarising what is already available elsewhere. It could well be that there are people out there who are looking for these things for fraud purposes; however, they probably do have their strategies how to get hold of a certain signature anyway and I believe that this blog post does not encourage fraud. Please feel free to comment/get in touch for further feedback. Thanks.

Take That @ Abbey Road

As most of you know Take That were working on a not so secret project at the Abbey Road Studios not long ago. Abbey Road is one of London top addresses and TTC would like to show you what is going on there :-) Below is the pretty boring looking entrance, which has been used by very famous artists. I cannot think of anyone else apart from the Beatles and Take That now, but I guess there is no one of more importance anyway;-) What is very funny to see are the tourists on the zebra crossing trying to imitate the fab four (not our fab four).

Jason leaving Abbey Road Studios few years ago.

Mark leaving Abbey Road Studios on the other side.

Was not surprised to find this on the wall.

:-)

"What a silly photo" you may think... I tell you why this is interesting: Howard parked his car here, the last time probably was 9 September 2009.

What's new in London ?

It is time for an update after the tour we loved every second of. The "boys" are on holiday now, I am sure you have seen the photos of Gary landing in LA. It has become quiet in Kensington, Gary's car is parked near his house and his letter box has not been emptied for a few days. However, it seems someone is looking after everything once in a while. Howard has also left London and has taken his car. He does not have the "letter box problem", but London is not his main address anyway. I am not sure what Jason is up to. He has got family in London, but he very often travels to Manchester when not working. Mark has been doing normal stuff. It seems he had guests earlier this week and will most likely relax somewhere out of London in the coming weeks.

Take That @ BBC Studios

I sometimes get asked "where can I see Take That in London?" or "where do I need to go for a certain TV show?" Here is the answer for Thursday; the day after tomorrow. Friday Night With Jonathan Ross will be recorded at the BBC Studios in White City, but in my opinion going there is a bit pointless, since they will drive in (on the left) and drive out (on the right). However, you can always try as they, especially Mark, sometimes lower the window of the car to greet some fans. Watch out for a silver Mercedes van (for the case they all get collected together) or some silver Mercedes notchbacks (for the case they get collected individually).

The recording will start around 7pm, so the rehearsals will be somewhen in the afternoon already, and the show normally finishes around 9pm.

Rehearsals at Elstree Studios

You have probably all seen the photos of the trucks that have arrived in Sunderland and I thought it is time for an update about the rehearsals that have taken place over the past weeks. As for previous shows, Take That chose Elstree for their final tour rehearsals. The stage for the Circus Tour was built by a pretty popular company (they worked for U2, Pink, Alicia Keys.. before) and installed at Elstree in early May. The George Lucas stage can accommodate a full size stadium tour and Take That were rehearsing all songs over and over again, and guess what.. they'll bring our all time favourite Never Forget. We all know the show would not be same without it but it is good to know they'll perform it for sure!! The trucks with all the equipment left Elstree early last week and it appears that Take That took a short break from rehearsing before doing it all over again in Sunderland.

Have fun everyone !

What a coinkidinky !

I spotted this man reading the londonpaper in the Central Line today and had a closer look: he was wearing Mark's shirt of the M&S Collection 2007. Wow!

And now guess who was in today's londonpaper? Take That - spotted leaving ZUMA restaurant Wednesday night. It's not really clear whether Mark was absent or left in a separate car (which would make sense).

londonpaper, Thursday 30 April 2009

An interview with meet&greet winner Janice

Today’s entry is slightly off topic since it has nothing to do with London but Take That City would like to share thoughts of a fan with you. Janice met Take That at a meet&greet in Germany last week and it probably was one of her happiest days in life. Read the interview below and please feel free to leave comments in your preferred language.

TTC: Janice, you met Mark, Howard and Gary recently. How did it come to this?

Janice: Take That were on radio promotion in Germany last week and my friend Sandy and me decided to try our luck and go to see them. However, one radio station announced a competition on the morning of the 19th and I just had to take part. The price was a meet and greet with Take That that same day and I couldnt believe when I got through and talked to a member of staff. I was nervous as hell but unfortunately did not win. The lucky girl was a member of the German fanclub and guess what? She could chose one person to go with her and she asked me. Woohooooo!


How long have you been waiting for that day?

I have been a fan since I was a little girl. I have always loved their music and was disappointed when they split up in the 90s. Ten years later, when they decided to start as a band again, I was still a fan and you could say I waited 14 years for that day. I never thought I would ever meet them. It was just awesome.


Mark is your favourite. Your very first meeting with him was quite unusual. Would you like to tell us why?

When we arrived at the radio station we got a short tour around the studio, needless to say that this was pretty exciting. We were told that Take That were there already but they were still at lunch so we had to wait a little longer. We then were just walking around and there was some guy coming out of the mens and it was Mark. I thought for a second my heart was going to stop. I thought „Mark really goes to the toilett“. I know it sounds mental but that’s what I thought. He looked at us with his well known smile and I tried to tell the other fan who I just saw. He was still looking at us and then disappeared. Strange how such a normal thing can bring you close to fainting, but it was a very special day.


And then you officially met all of them. How was that?

The meet&greet itself was pretty relaxed and I felt very comfortable. Gary, Howard and Mark (sadly Jason was ill and could not come) are really nice blokes and they answered all our questions, signed our albums and looked at the photo albums we brought along. Gary really liked them and Howard was asking where his photo album was. I was nervous as hell and Mark tried to calm me down and explained that there was no reason to be nervous. He then said that he liked my name and signed my album with: to Janice with love Mark Owen.

We also had a group photo taken and then it was time for them to go because they had several appointments at other radio stations. They were nearly out of the door but Mark explained he can speak German and said „Tschüß“. I was very happy about the fact that they are so nice and normal.

It must have been an amazing feeling to shake hands with Mark.

Yes, it was. I was speechless which is very unusual for me. Mark approached me, smiled at me and said: Hello, I’m Mark Owen from Take That. Nice to meet you and how are you? I was just thinking: Wow, he really introduces himself to me. And then I noticed how soft his hands were...


Didn’t you just want to start drooling?

My brain was thinking „please don't start to drool“ but at the same time my mouth was totally dry. My hands were wet and I have never been that nervous before.


When will you see each other again?

I will see Take That on 3 July at Wembley but dont think they will see me between all those people. I told Mark that I would be coming to London and he said: We’ll see, maybe see you again soon. But my chances are close to zero. Although I dont think I will ever see them that close again, I am really looking forward to that concert and will never forget that day, wherever I am.


Thank you Janice. Take That City is looking forward to meeting you in July.

Watch Janice's personal video of her greatest day here .