Well, I'd shag him. And if you believe the tabloids, I already have.
And been indicted in the hedonistic disruption of a man who lives his life, above all else, through
instinct. Someone who knows how to feel.
The Daily Telegraph, 17 September 1997
"I've wanted to do this for two f***ing years."
Robbie Williams stands onstage,
clean, sober and snake-hipped, togged up in classy silk threads, ready for anything.
And probably scared shitless. A natural response to a landslide of expectations, the
audience for the start of his first solo tour made up not just of freshly enrolled students
indiscriminately embracing the Good Time stuff, but also a sizeable faction of Take That fans
completely with "Rob-We Want Your Knob" banners. So many things to prove and so many skins to
shed. The hard bits.
I come prepared to defend him. And to appologise for any perceived
collaboration in clouding post-boyband potential. It's a period that smothers his debut album,
inevitably emphasising the folly of idealistically revealing so much pain. It was hard to believe that
the live show could unglue itself from muddy mithering. I leave an hour and a half later spray painting celebration across
every available wall. This time, he's got it right.
And what an extraordinary set. The songs from the album, particularly the ballads, work far better live than
on record-rough, tender creations that (understandably, given the acknowledgee
influence of his life) recall Noel's more pensive moments. "Angels" and "One Of
God's Better People" aren't too far away from a justifiable place in an Oasis set.
The pop songs are delivered with the loveable enthusiasm of someone who understands better
than most that the throwaway stuff is the stuff you never throw away. And while
a version of Bowie's "Kooks" is fairly dismal, covers of The Beatles' "Everybody's
Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey" (take that, Noel!) and The
Primals' "Rocks" are little less than glorious.
Then there's the weirdo songs like "Average B-Side"
and "Teenage Millionaire" (about life in Take That) demonstrating Williams' very
lyrical talents. And, best of all, a cover of TT's "Back For Good" that starts
out like the original before lurching into a pogo-rama frenzy that provides some
of us whith quite the most genuinely thrilling thing we've seen onstage all year.
The rest of the tour will knock your socks off. As good, at last, as he was always meant to be.