Review: Gary Barlow, Wolverhampton Civic Hall

Organising a pop concert for the Queen, picking up an OBE and being in the hot-seat as head judge on the X Factor has left no doubt that 2012 has been a busy year for Gary Barlow.

But the sharp-suited star finished the year off by getting back to what he does best – performing to an adoring audience.

And when he took to the stage at Wolverhampton's Civic Hall last night it is fair to say the 3,000 strong sellout crowd was on hand to make him feel right at home.

"It's been a long time since I played this venue, 1991 I think," he told the audience after strolling on stage.

And while his highlighted blonde hair and dodgy dance moves from the early days of Take That are thankfully long gone – the screams of delight from fans were as loud as ever last night.

After a theatrical bow he launched straight into his first song, the Take That hit Greatest Day, which got everyone singing along immediately and causing Gary to remark to his band, "we've got a good crowd here tonight, boys".

Sometimes the bigger the star the less you find they chat to their audience – but that wasn't an issue with this singer as he spent the night happily chatting away.

His sense of humour was on show too; during a runthrough of the band's history he poked fun at his own short-lived attempt at a solo career back in the 1990s joking that his second album sold "42 copies worldwide."

It was the old Take That tunes which went down the best – including his rendition of Pray. And support act Nell Bryden was invited back on stage for a rendition of everyone's favourite Christmas tune, Fairytale of New York. There was also a performance of one of Gary's "top five all-time songs", Forever Autumn and a foray into big band music which again showed the quality of his voice with I've Got You Under My Skin and Moondance.

After a short interval, which Gary confessed was added as he was "too old to do it all in one go now", he ran through some of Take That's biggest tunes including Everything Changes, Shine and The Flood.

The majority of the crowd was made up of 30 and 40-somethings who obviously caught Take That fever first time around.

Yvette Booth from Wednesfield and her three friends Andrea Cooke, Sharon Harriman and Amanda Coogan all donned Gary Barlow masks for the show.

The 41-year-old NHS worker said: "We absolutely love Gary. We think he looks better now then when he was in Take That the first time round."

Kerry Gardener, aged 41 from Willenhall, who was with her sister Nikki Wildman, said: "We just love Gary, he just has a fantastic song-writing ability.

Mrs Wildman said: "He is also just a gorgeous man, and I just think he is lovely."

Karen Kilbride, aged 41 from Bromsgrove, said: "We just all like him because he's a family man, and very down-to-earth. You could see on the X Factor, that he came across as a normal lovely guy."

Sarah Bradley, 48, from West Bromwich said she had loved him for years.

"He just has fantastic song-writing skills, and of course he is a lovely looking man."

ned for the final song of the night, Never Forget. Before departing he told the crowd: "I hope it's not 20 years before I am back here again as I have thoroughly enjoyed it".

He would be welcome in Wolverhampton anytime.