Take That book Circus return for Sunderland
Gary, Mark and Howard will be bringing the 2026 tour revival back to the Stadium of Light
Take That are rolling back into Sunderland - complete with a full-scale revival of their bells and whistles Circus tour.
The nation’s favourite man-band have announced they’ll play the Stadium of Light on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Needless to say their North East fans are up a height at the prospect.
Anyone who has followed the band will know that reinvention has become Take That’s trademark. After storming the charts and capturing millions of teenage hearts in the 90s with Pray, Back For Good and Everything Changes, they bowed out in 1996 - not too long after their youngest member, Robbie Williams had left to pursue his solo ambitions. And get away from Gary Barlow (they’re pals again now).
A decade later, Gary, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange relaunched themselves as a grown-up version of the boyband they once were, powered by the Beautiful World album and the ballad Patience.
They played their first live gig at the Arena in Newcastle - and it was quite the occasion. I went twice. Once for work and once for out-and-out fun with beers. Such was the number of Beverley Knight’s stage appearances, she’s still a byword for turbo multi-tasking in our friend group.
By 2009, they had become (ring)masters of spectacle, delivering The Circus with jaw-dropping staging and that unforgettable giant elephant.
Since then, the group’s story has been one of constant rebirth. Robbie briefly re-entered the fold for Progress, Jason stepped away, and Gary, Mark and Howard have kept the show on the road.
The 2026 incarnation of The Circus promises to be another epic production featuring heavyweight support acts and a setlist stacked with pop classics from a back catalogue spanning more than three decades.
Tickets go on sale at 9:30am on Friday, September 26 via Ticketmaster and Gigsandtours, with pre-sale access for anyone who pre-orders the new album before 5pm on Tuesday, September 23.