Picture the scene. What seems like thousands upon thousands of screaming children waiting with eager anticipation for their idols to come on stage, you could be forgiven for thinking you were at Take That concert circa 1994. In reality it’s the 9th October 2016 and we are in the Lyric Theatre in Salford’s The Lowry and the noise and excitement makes it difficult to believe that the capacity is only 1730. That’s 1730 extremely excited people waiting to Daniel Middleton.
Daniel Middleton AKA Dan TDM is a 24 year old YouTube sensation. His channel The Diamond Minecart mainly focuses on videos made by Dan on the hugely popular game Minecraft. As of October 2016 he has 12.6 million subscribers and his videos have been viewed an outstanding 8.2 billion times. When my 9 year old Dan TDM obsessed son begged me to take him to this tour, I could think of nothing worse than watching someone, on stage, playing computer games. Having been subjected to many of his videos over the years, I assumed the Dan TDM tour was going to be a live version of what we see if the videos and despite my reservations, promised my son that he could go.
I could not have been so incredibly wrong. Dan requested the audience to keep the tour content a secret as there are still some dates to complete so I cannot give too much away but WOW. It was absolutely brilliant. The interaction with the audience was excellent and really made everyone there feel like they were completely involved in the production. A story was told using many of the characters that all Dan TDM fans know and love and some of the games you’ll see Dan blog about on his YouTube channel also feature. The content is familiar to the audience but it is delivered in a way that is completely unexpected. According to my son Noah, Dan TDM studied for and obtained a degree in musical education so considering he is a young man with no acting or presenting background, he certainly knows how to put on a show so huge well done for that.
Watching YouTube videos is commonplace these days and, love it or hate it, our children are exposed to it. If like me, you are a parent who is constantly worried about the content your child is viewing on the internet, Dan TDM is one of the good guys. He is an inspiration to young people all over the globe and none of his videos contain the bad language that some of Dan TDM’s counterparts sadly seem to favour.
This tour is now completely sold out but I am sure following its success, another one will be announced. In the meantime, Dans’ book Trayaurus and The Enchanted Crystal is available from all good book stores and it’s a great read.
Keep doing what you do so well Daniel Middleton. You are an excellent role model and any mother would be proud for child to grow up to be like you. Congratulations on all of your well deserved success.
Reviewer: Annellen Fazackerley
Reviewed: 9th October 2016
North West End Rating: ★★★★★
