EXCITEMENT is building ahead of the Take That tour, which begins in the North-East next Friday.

The Stadium of Light in Sunderland is being transformed to host the concerts.

The Take That trucks arrived after Saturday’s last home match against Wolves to start work on the stadium’s temporary facelift.

The club’s head of venue and events, Gary Hutchinson, said: “There’s a huge amount of work involved in preparing the stadium for the concerts and getting it ready for the band’s arrival.

“The concert promoters are now on site and we are working hand-in-hand with them to ensure that things run as smoothly as possible.”

Crowd barriers, handrails, LED boards and advertising hoardings have been removed.

Details of the show are still shrouded in secrecy and a fullscale security operation is in place to ensure confidentiality.

Progress Live 2011 will see the band play to nearly 1.5 million people around the country, culminating in a record-breaking eight nights at Wembley Stadium, in London.

It is the band’s biggest tour yet and will be the first time Gary, Howard, Jason, Mark and Robbie have toured together as a fivepiece since 1995.

The show features their biggest hits from the past 20 years and will also see Robbie take to the stage to perform songs from his solo career.

Two years ago, Take That started their Circus tour at the Stadium of Light, closely followed by Oasis and Pink last year.

Next Friday is the first of four nights in Sunderland with the second night on Saturday and then performances on Monday and Tuesday of the following week.

Mr Hutchinson said: “Concerts have added another dimension to what we offer, not only at the Stadium of Light, but across the city as a whole.

“The success of the first concerts helped put Sunderland well and truly on the map as a major venue and a tourism destination.

“This year, the Take That events promise to be bigger and better.”

A limited number of tickets are being made available today at 9am.

They are available at Newcastle MetroRadio Arena in person or by calling 0844-493-6666.