The biggest boy band in the world chose Sunderland's Stadium of Light as the venue for last night’s first show in 16 years with Robbie Williams.
It was the first of 29 stadium gigs, with 1.8 million tickets sold, smashing the record the group set in 2009. The tour will come to Dublin next month for two sell-out gigs in Croke Park.
The group gave fans at the Stadium of Light a trip back to their original glory days with classic hits like Pray, Relight My Fire and Never Forget.
Williams, who last toured with the band in 1995, also performed solo material.
The tour marks the culmination of the group's long-awaited and lucrative reunion.
Williams was absent for the first five songs as his bandmates performed tracks like Greatest Day and Rule the World, which were recorded before he rejoined the band.
As they departed, Williams landed on stage to deliver a string of hits that represented his supremacy over his old bandmates in the late 1990s and 2000s, such as Angels, Rock DJ and Let Me Entertain You.
After performing his biggest hit, Angels, Robbie reunited with his band-mates on a platform high above the stage for their first song together, The Flood.
Dancers suspended on wires were drenched by a waterfall as they sang, before Williams dived in slow motion onto the stage.
Another four tracks from Progress followed, each with finely honed dance routines.
The centrepiece of the stage set was a 40-foot animatronic figure that slowly made its way from crouching to standing amid the crowd, representing the progress of man and the band.
