“Hello, I’m Mark”.

“Hello, I’m Gary”.

“Hello, I’m Howard”.

“And we’re what’s left of Take That”.

And so the three took to their arena – and this really was their arena. Anyone who thought that the remaining three-fifths of Take That would struggle to keep the show on the road would have been silenced by the epic scale of their show on a rainy Friday night in Dublin – the first of two nights in the 3Arena.

A ten-minute exposition sets the tone for the night: somewhere between Cirque Du Soleil, Mary Poppins and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Multi-coloured and be-suited townsfolk; sinister men in dark trenchcoats; bicycles and tricycles; giant hamster wheels powering a futuristic cityscape – and this all before Gary, Mark and Howard emerge from the madness to send the crowd into raptures.

Take That were never likely to be a band to give too much emphasis to their most recent album and tonight serves more like a greatest hits set than anything else. Nevertheless, they lead off with I Like It from last year’s album ‘III’ and follow this with Love Love from ‘Progress’ and Greatest Day from ‘Circus’. If you were looking to derive a theme from the night then a combination of these three album titles would cover it.

Throughout the first few songs, the eye is drawn to two seating sections at the back of the stage, which we presumed to be an orchestra. However, it wasn’t until Hold Up A Light that they started (and finished) playing their instruments, which with the benefit of hindsight, were clearly props. For the rest of the night they inhabited the various themes, acting as dancers or a choir or, in the case of the ultra-realistic rain during The Flood, umbrella-wielding punters. Together with the dancers and acrobats and the eight-strong band, there must have been a hundred performers on stage at some points during the show.

Yet, they also manage to pare it right back and allow the crowd to catch a breathe, taking up instruments for the Beatlesy Up All Night. With Barlow at the piano they start into the ballad version of Could It Be Magic, before Barlow mock protests that he doesn’t want to play this /version and they go for the full disco break-out, with the 3Arena immediately on its feet.

The voices, it has to be said, are in fine fettle. Mark is the only one who seems to have to strain himself at times. Even Howard, who by now (several outfit changes later) is wearing his traditional outfit of vest, waistcoat and tight trousers, sounds pretty good for a guy whose primary role, when the band first started, was as a dancer. However, some of the outfit changes unintentionally descend into parody, particularly on Affirmation, with the three amigos all Kraftwerk-like behind synthesisers in futuristic white gowns.

Over the opening chords of Back For Good the boys introduce their band. It is perhaps telling that half the band have been with them for twenty years. Relight My Fire and Pray bring the house down before the intrepid threesome take to the skies in a fantastic flying machine that can only be described as a bicycopter.

As Barlow announces Rule The World as their last song, he adds with a wry smile that “if you cheer loud enough we might have another couple of heavily rehearsed songs for you”. What is readily apparent is that everything tonight has been heavily rehearsed. The scale is staggering and it comes off without a hitch. There was never any doubt that they would finish with Never Forget. It must be their last encore song at every show since its release twenty (yes, twenty!) years ago. How many members will be in the band next time they tour is anybody’s guess, but judging by this tour, three is a grand-sized crowd.