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 UK REPORT
Manchester Apollo, 15th March 1998
Open Road Tour
Report By Julia Wharton
After a exhausting day presenting
the First Ever Gary Barlow Fans Convention on behalf of GB Fans,
I wearily made my way to the Apollo Theatre in Manchester for Gary's
hometown Gig on 15th March 1998. We first made a stop at the back
door to hand over something from the Convention to Gary's assistant
Chris Healey and we (Jan, Helen, Michelle and Jackie) then headed
for the back of the queue.
Having been let in and found
our seats we sat through the support act Kinane, counting away the
songs, eager for Gary to appear on stage. The promo for Open Book
was played first to the pleasure of everyone in the house!
Finally the band appeared,
there was a slight scream as one of the  band members sat at Gary's
piano and the crowd thought it was Gary himself! To the crowds surprise
Gary walked on from the other side of the stage. He started his
set as usual with 'Labour For Love' and continued singing as on
the track list. I did recall that I heard 'Labour
Of Love' somewhere else, and remembered it was an old Huey and Cry
song, bringing me back to my younger years.....I must be getting
old!
 Favourite bits of the show, are too many
to number but I can recall during his performance of 'Cuddly Toy'
that he managed to get a few pelvic trusts in to the delight of
the audience and Jackie and I! Also, when he played Forever Love
and dedicated it to Princess Diana, Gianne Versace and his Nan,
the candles he lit were really moving and seemed to lull the crowd
into a hush.
Gary mentioned afterwards
that he was so pleased the audience were respectful enough to keep
quiet in the correct moments. The new versions of My Commitment
and Always were totally brilliant as well. I'm so amazed that Gary,
no matter what position he is in, can still manage to play the piano!
 Chocolate of the night was a Galaxy bar
which Gary did his best to impersonate Meg Ryan in 'When Harry Met
Sally', I'm sure you can guess the part in the film I'm talking
about!
We were seated in the circle
quite far from the stage looking down on it, I have a 200 zoom on
my camera and did my best to take some good photos, unfortunately
the other half didn't mention I should have had the 'high speed'
button on so they didn't come out as I had hoped! Nevertheless I
will be going to see him again at the Albert Hall on 23rd March,
this time with the 'high speed' on!
Many thanks for your ticket Juliette!
End of Report
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