Robbie Williams - London Astoria Saturday 1st October 2005 reviewed by Cars

Back to main page

It's an incredibly long & incredibly lucky story of how I managed to bag a ticket for this show tonight. It was sheer chance of me being in the right place at the right time. Albeit alone in the right place at the right time so for the first time I was at a gig by myself. I can assure you though if you are going to be a Norma No Mates at any gig a Robbie Williams one isn't a bad one to be at. He could charm the birds from the trees & throughout it all you feel like he is chatting directly to you & could well be performing in your living room. It didn't even matter that I was surrounded mainly by chav slappers, menopausal women & the odd long suffering boyfriend. In fact the only downside was the fans. They weren't horrible but as a person who has only ever really attended rock/metal based gigs you could really notice the difference. It wasn't a friendly environment. I know people not into that scene would find it hard to believe but I felt a lot more comfortable & even "safer" at gigs for the likes of Iron Maiden, Skunk Anasie, Lost Prophets, etc, etc. Like I say though, they weren't bad people just maybe not hardcore music fans you usually find yourself queuing with at the Astoria. Still though I had a great time! This show was a "secret" gig in preparation for this new album at the end of the month. People had been camping all night to get their hands on these one person person tickets so once again I stress I was so lucky to be able to just wander in & get mine! No support act which suited me though there were some DJs on-stage playing some dreadful dance music. I would have chosen to sit in the loo with toilet roll in my ears throughout had I not bagged myself a prime spot by the mixing desk. He came on-stage at just gone 8 o'clock to a new song. To be honest the screams were so loud that I couldn't really take it in. In all he played 8 or 9 new songs. Usually when I'm at a gig I'm the sort to sigh & switch off during tracks I don't know. Tonight was different though. With the exception of new single Tripping which I'm yet to get into I really enjoyed them all. Hard to tell on just one listen but my early favourites would be Place To Crash, The Trouble With Me & Advertising Space. They were so new that he had the lyrics written down to prompt himself & he openly admitted to "cocking up" a couple of bits. Didn't matter though, even if we had noticed he would have instantly been forgiven. He played a good selection of singles including of course Rock DJ (bought the house down), Millennium (great crowd pleaser) & of course Angels. I, like many others, feel Angels is overplayed. Not by him but just because I don't think a week has gone past since it's release where I haven't heard it at least once. Tonight though it was the absolute highlight. To be part of the now infamous crowd singing part of that song is breathtaking. You could see by his face that even though he must hear it every single show it still blows him away. Fantastic moment. I was pleased he played Come Undone - my favourite Escapology track aswell as the umm supreme Supreme! (which he sang the first verse of I Will Survive as an intro into it). He included bits of other peoples songs a lot into his set tonight explaining that each time he did it his manager had to pay royalties to that artist! From memory these included Relax, Into The Groove, Back For Good ("lets give Barlow some money" - his second swipe at Gary throughout the night. The first being when he introduced Angels stating "if it wasn't for this song I'd be Gary Barlow"). Whether you love him or hate him nobody can deny he is a fantastic showman. To be able to see him in a venue this size was beyond brilliant. He interacts so well with the audience that he's able to go from making you laugh by cracking jokes (constantly doing Little Britain impressions) to hushed silence during  the likes of acoustic new track Make Me Pure. Best pop showman in Britain today - no question. 10 out of 10 Setlist: Overture Ghosts Feel Place To Crash Supreme The Trouble With Me Advertising Space Spread Your Wings Angels Millennium Come Undone Sin Sin Sin Tripping No Regrets Rock DJ Make Me Pure

Back to gig reviews

Back to main page

Agree? Disagree? Were you at gig? Go to message board to vent!

Buy Robbie CDs/DVDs