Thanks for that Shellspeare.

 

' Flew in by Helicopter' eh? I'd love someone to write that about me one day. :lol:

Robbie has a Tour plane! :o :dance: ( Pics from the Chris Coco website)

 

 

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Robbie kicks off world tour in Dublin

Ninemsn Australia

 

British pop star Robbie Williams promised Irish fans a free concert after kicking off the summer leg of his world tour in Dublin with what he said was a disappointing performance.

 

The 32-year-old, who said he wished he'd opened his sell-out Close Encounter tour in a village hall rather than in front of 90,000 screaming fans, made the promise after a stunt at the end of Friday's show failed to come off.

 

Williams was meant to descend on a gondola from a rig above the stage during his song Let Me Entertain You but the device didn't work and Williams was forced to rush back down to the stage.

 

After the song, Williams admitted what had happened and said he didn't feel he had performed as well as he could.

 

His pledge to host a free gig was greeted with huge applause and cheers from an already animated audience packed into Dublin's Croke Park stadium.

 

"I'll be back before the end of the year," he said.

 

Earlier, fans were treated to a fireworks display before Williams took to the stage.

 

Wearing a black coat and red scarf, he kickstarted his set with the classic Rock DJ and Tripping from his new album Intensive Care.

 

Tickets went on sale this week for the singer's Australian concerts in December.

 

It's been five years since Williams toured Down Under.

 

The current leg of the tour will visit 14 countries on 44 different dates by the time it wraps in Melbourne on December 17.

Robbie Williams promises free Irish concert

Reuters

 

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Pop star Robbie Williams promised Irish fans a free concert after kicking off the summer leg of his world tour in Dublin with what he said was a disappointing performance on Friday.

 

The 32-year-old, who said he wished he'd opened his sell-out "Close Encounter" tour in a village hall rather than in front of 90,000 screaming fans, made the promise after a stunt at the end of the show failed to come off.

 

Williams was meant to descend on a gondola from a rig above the stage during his song "Let Me Entertain You" but the device didn't work and Williams was forced to rush back down to the stage.

 

After the song, Williams admitted what had happened and said he didn't feel he had performed as well as he could. His pledge to host a free gig was greeted with huge applause and cheers from an already animated audience packed into Dublin's Croke Park stadium.

 

"I'll be back before the end of the year," he said.

Dublin hosts Robbie Euro tour start

 

Friday June 9, 10:43 PM

 

 

Fireworks shot into the Dublin sky as entertainer Robbie Williams greeted 80,000 adoring fans to kick off his European tour.

 

"How are you doin'?" he asked, but did not have to, as the crowd screamed back at him begging the star to start the evening's entertainment.

 

He duly obliged. The first of a night of hits and a number one to boot, Radio, brought the thousands to their feet. And there they stayed.

 

Rock DJ followed to which everyone joined in without him asking.

 

Letting his fans do the work the pop icon who began life as a star in Take That swaggered down a flight of stairs towards his fans encouraging them to sing along.

 

As he walked to the edge of the stage two England flags draped from the barriers greeted him along with a message "Robbie's Angels".

 

The St George's Cross a rare sight in Dublin's Croke Park the home of Ireland's Gaelic games.

 

The first night of this 40-leg tour gave fans across Europe a taste of what is to come.

 

The crowd of 80,000 screamed as the star sang, danced, strutted and teased his way through the night.

 

Robbie, an ardent football fan relaxed before the gig in his back-stage dressing room by watching Germany beat Costa Rica in the opening game of the World Cup.

Rob's disaster Dublin gig

 

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Before stunt ... Rob sings to adoring fans

 

 

 

ROBBIE WILLIAMS set out to rock Dublin last night – but the opening night of his tour almost ended in disaster.

 

During the show’s finale, the singer was supposed to drop almost 100ft to the stage in a “gondola†— but things went badly wrong.

 

A technical glitch meant Robbie ended up running on to the set in a panic as fire exploded around him.

 

Clearly shocked, the fuming singer later slated the concert, saying it was so awful he would come back to Dublin to play a free gig by way of apology.

 

Robbie was due to perform Let Me Entertain You at the close of the gig when the risky stunt backfired.

 

He told the crowd afterwards: “I can let you into a little secret. When I was up there I was supposed to come down in a gondola and it was going to be entertainment at its highest peak.

 

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Rob ... enjoying himself

 

 

“But when the man standing behind you says, ‘It’s f****d’ in front of 70,000 people, you panic. Being in a white tracksuit probably wasn’t the best thing to be in.

 

“You’ll never know how much panic went through my mind when I was up there. You’ve been much better than me.

 

“I’ve not been very good tonight so I will come back and do it for free.â€

 

Robbie and ex-bandmates Take That had been competing for the biggest stage spectacular of the year — and until the last-minute hitch it was too close to call.

 

The alien-mad singer had given his tour a Close Encounters theme and it kicked off with fireworks and special flame effects blazing around the stage at Croke Park.

 

As the Close Encounters movie theme tune played, a countdown flashed on the screen with the warning, “Gentlemen and ladies — this is not a drill.â€

 

Then, to a backdrop of weird ancient Egyptian symbols. the man himself shot up through the base of a podium in the middle of the crowd.

 

 

Wearing a black three-quarter length coat, jeans and a camp pink scarf, Robbie broke into hit track Radio as 78,000 fans went wild.

 

Rock DJ got the crowd in even more of a frenzy but after his third track, Tripping, the Loving Angels star had a breather and a cup of tea!

 

Addressing fans, he said: “It’s been too long. I don’t know how Mick Jagger does this. I’m knackered!â€

 

He moved on to more songs from his current album — Monsoon and latest single Sin, Sin, Sin. That last song may have flopped in the charts but die-hard fans still knew all the words.

 

 

After the rousing Millennium, Robbie was joined on the stage by a surprise guest, best mate Jonathan Wilkes.

 

The TV host is travelling with Robbie throughout the tour, and the pair duetted on the classic Me And My Shadow

 

Robbie followed that with Take That favourite Back For Good — probably so he can get in some practise for his own “surprise†appearance on their tour.

 

Singing No Regrets straight after underlines his feelings towards his old muckers.

 

He briefly left the stage before screaming fans dragged him back for a finale including Let Me Entertain You — and that ill-fated attempt at a stunt.

 

 

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DUBLIN UP

The Mirror

 

ROBBIE Williams wows 78,000 fans in Dublin last night - and promised them a repeat performance for free.

 

Robbie, touring for the first time in three years, showed he'd lost none of his magic in a two-hour set.

 

Even when a stunt to lower him on stage in a gondola failed to work, he thrilled the Crowe Park Stadium crowd by telling them: "I'm coming back and doing another show for free. On my next show the f***ing gondola will work!"

 

But from the moment he came on, it was clear we were in for a special night as he bounded around the stage.

 

It seemed to catch up with him and at one point as he gasped: "I want to know how Mick Jagger does this stuff. I'm 32 and knackered. He's about 105 and still does it!"

 

Not that the crowd minded one bit as they helped him belt out classics such Millennium and Let Me Entertain You.

 

They even indulged him as he enlisted the dubious vocal talents of best pal Jonathan Wilkes for the aptly-named Me And My Shadow as well as Strong.

 

And there was the moment thousands had waited for as he sang Back For Good in tribute to Take That.

 

To crown it all was the encore, when Robbie appeared behind us all for a rousing rendition of Angels.

 

Then he was gone, with 38 more gigs ahead of him. And on this evidence he'll have every fan praying for a dodgy gondola and a repeat gig.

THE ROB'S A GOOD'UN

LIVE REVIEW Williams wows as tour starts

By Cath Bennett

 

 

More than 78,000 fans squeezed into Croke Park to see one of the world's best showmen sing his heart out.

 

Ditching his usual opening Let Me Entertain You, he launched into Radio and dazzled throughout the two-hour set.

 

But Robbie admitted he was nervous. He told the crowd: "I was s****ing myself before I came on. There's so many of you. You'd think I'd be used to it by now."

 

The title of the tour was inspired by the 1977 sci-fi movie and crop circles, alien abduction and space ships all featured in the show. But it was the Robster himself who the crowd wanted to see on the giant screens - and every cheeky grin and wink was greeted with hysterical screams.

 

Radio was followed by Rock DJ and last year's comeback track, Trippin. Although material from Intensive Care was well received, it was the old favourites that went down best, and Millennium had the whole crowd bouncing along.

 

For Me And My Shadow, Robbie was joined by best pal Jonathan Wilkes, who remained on stage to duet on Strong. The encore was a blinder - Let Me Entertain You, followed by Kids, and finishing with Angels.

And Robbie, who'll be in Scotland in September, revealed that he definitely won't be joining Take That on their comeback tour.

 

He said: "I couldn't do the tour because I had a tremendously successful tour of my own to do. B*****ks to that, I'm doing my own stuff."

10 June 2006

TAKE IT OFF

Kiki King, Eva Simpson & Caroline Hedley

 

WHY go on tour in the back of a battered old Transit when you can afford to do things in style?

 

And Robbie Williams certainly knows how to push the boat out - or, in this case, the private jet.

 

Here he is posing in front of his customised airbus "Private Encounters" at Luton Airport yesterday, before flying to Ireland to kick off the European leg of his Close Encounters world tour.

 

On the luxury 50-seater plane, Robbie and his entourage enjoyed light snacks specially prepared by the onboard chef, before touching down in Dublin for last night's triumphant gig at Croke Park.

 

 

And although Robbie and his best buddy Jonathan Wilkes intended to fly straight back to London afterwards, he still booked out every room of the nearby Jury's hotel for the night - just in case. Well, with the few extra pennies he'll be making on the tour, why not?

 

 

In all, he will fly to 12 different European countries where he's playing 39 dates in front of 2.2 million fans.

 

 

Talk about a jet-set lifestyle. Now all Robbie needs is to ditch that chavtastic blue tracksuit and get a high-flying wardrobe instead. Forget take off, Robbie, just take it off!

 

 

Luton airport :huh: If Il'd know, I could of gone and seen him off :P

ROBBIE TAKES THE MICK.. A BIT

Glasgow Sunday Mail

 

ROBBIE WILLIAMS paid a jokey tribute to ageing rocker Mick Jagger as he kicked off his tour with a blistering show in Dublin.

 

The Robster told the 78,000 fans at Croke Park: "I'm back again. I don't know how Mick Jagger has the energy to this.

 

"I'm 32 and knackered - he's about 105 and still gets around the stage."

 

Then Robbie burst into The Rolling Stones' anthem Satisfaction.

 

Robbie is set to hit Hampden in Glasgow for two nights in September with his sold-out Close Encounters show.

 

 

TAKE THAT AS A NO

People

 

ROBBIE WILLIAMS has put paid to rumours he'll join former band Take That on stage.

 

Rob, 32, told fans in Dublin on the first gig of his European tour: "People are asking 'Is he going to do it, is he going to join them?' I'm busy, I've got a tour of my own."

 

But he added: "I went and met up with the boys... we love each other again."

 

 

From Contact Music

 

ROBBIE'S BATTLING THE BULGE

 

British pop singer ROBBIE WILLIAMS has battled drug and alcohol problems and now he's fighting a new addiction - chocolate. Williams, who has recently started his Close Encounters tour, is worried about the effect his sweet tooth is having on his waist line. The ANGELS star says, "I'll be honest - I'm doing this mad thing where I'm trying to fool myself into believing I'm not eating chocolate. About five o'clock every morning I wake up with this longing for sugar. "I'll walk all the way down to the kitchen. So there I am in a soporific state pretending I'm not getting through a block of chocolate the size of Sussex (English county)." To hide his weight, the former boy band member admits, "I'm more at home in tracksuit and trainers but there is something about a three-quarter length coat. You're thinking, 'Yeah people are staring, but act like you're ace and maybe they won't see the little fatty you saw back in your dressing room.'"

11/06/2006 14:23

 

 

:lol: I do exactly the same. Now, where's that Breakaway......

From the Guardian Unlimited

 

Robbie Williams

 

Croke Park, Dublin

 

Caroline Sullivan

Monday June 12, 2006

The Guardian

 

 

There's only one person in this army of 78,000 who isn't having a whale of a time, and that's the one around whom the whole thing revolves. Pink with exertion as he trots into the home stretch of the two-hour show, Robbie Williams is feeling critical of his opening-night performance. He's not simply miffed about having hit a bum note, or some such; he thinks the entire evening was below par.

 

 

"I don't feel I've done the best I can tonight. I haven't been very good." He pauses earnestly. "So I'm going to come back and do it again - for free." The video cameras mischievously swing toward Williams' manager at the side of the stage. His face is fixed in a stunned rictus grin. Clearly, he'll be having words with his charge about the recklessness of offering, in front of 78,000 witnesses, to stage a show of this magnitude (the tour programme lists no fewer than 200 personnel) "for free".

You can, however, understand where Williams is coming from. The one place in the world where he is second to none is on the stage. His gigs are where Robbie agnostics become believers, justifying his 10 years of ubiquity. If he doesn't cut it in front of an audience, where does that leave him?

 

And tonight, as he asserts, he wasn't all he could have been. For the first half-hour, he simply doesn't engage. Surprisingly for a celebrity who is positively American in offering a running account of his private life, tonight he's just not sharing. Radio and new single Sin Sin Sin generically chug by. After Trippin', he swigs a cup of tea, confessing: "I'm 32 and I'm knackered."

 

Finally, Williams turns from the disappointing Intensive Care album to the stuff we really want to hear, and a spark of life burns through his torpor. "I was wondering last night what it'd be like to have 90,000 people blow on me," he says, and from that surreal moment on, he's properly Robbie. Millennium, Strong and, obviously, Angels are melancholically perfect, and the Take That classic Back for Good gets a hammy kicking: "They reformed without me! They wouldn't have me on the tour!"

 

But just as he's about to end the show in triumph, a hydraulic lift malfunctions during Let Me Entertain You, forcing him to abort a stunt. It throws Williams into a funk, and this is when he contritely offers the free show. If it ever happens, and he's on form, it will be a heck of a party.

 

 

<_<

 

Any comments Scotty?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Daily Record (looks like bits out the Blog to me....)

 

 

12 June 2006

ROBBIE IN HUNT FOR LOVE

Sad star needs his Miss Right

Beverley Lyons And Cath Bennett

ROBBIE WILLIAMS has admitted he fears never falling in love.

 

The heart-throb singer - whose exes include supermodel Rachel Hunter and pop babe Nicole Appleton - is desperate to find a wife.

 

But he is so disillusioned with dating that he is unable to let his heart go.

 

Robbie said: "I'm despondent, women have been trying to play me like a fool.

 

"Because I've been going out more often it's happening more regularly. I'm fed up."

 

The singer, 32, even voices his frustration in Intensive Care album track The Trouble With Me, about a girl he couldn't love as a teenager.

 

 

 

 

Now he admits that, 20 years later, he is still having the same problem.

 

 

He says he often hits the town hoping to meet the woman of his dreams.

 

 

Robbie said: "I always expect something to happen - such as meeting the future Mrs Williams.

 

 

"To not believe in love has been a far easier ride than its soul-sapping search."

 

 

Robbie moved to Los Angeles because he was too famous in Britain. But now he is tired of the relationship games played by the plastic women there.

 

 

He said: "The package looks great but when you get them home they are wired up wrong.

 

 

"There are dating rules people use in Hollywood - 'Don't call until the next day then don't get back to him for at least two days.'

 

 

"It's all rubbish, if I spot them I respond in kind by never speaking to them again."

 

 

Now he is looking further a field for love.

 

 

Robbie is said to have visited Rio de Janeiro in Brazi regularly in the last two years - to visit an art student known only as Bruna.

 

 

Still on the lookout while filming his Sin Sin Sin video in Cape Town, he spotted a girl - only to discover she was out of bounds.

 

 

He said: "I invited someone back to the hotel, a very pretty girl who looked like a young Joanna Lumley.

 

 

"I told our hairdresser and he said, 'But she told me she'd got school in the morning.'

 

 

"I decided being arrested in South Africa wouldn't be fun."

 

 

And he admits another near miss earlier this year.

 

 

He said: "I nearly fell in love - but it was mistaken identity.

 

 

"It's very cruel. I cried when it came crashing down. I'd let myself believe in the dream.

 

 

"But I can't say where, when or who she is. It would cause too many problems."

 

 

For now Robbie is concentrating on his Close Encounters world tour, which kicked off in Dublin on Friday.

 

 

However, a technical glitch during his encore upset him so much that - despite the cheers of 78,000 fans - he vowed to return for a free show.

 

 

Robbie plays sold-out gigs at Glasgow's Hampden Park on September 1 and 2.

 

if he is sick of LA then australia is always free...though i think some crazy women not gonna name any (Tripper from TRWS) would rip him apart

 

oh well we all struggle with love ... ive excepted that fact so ill probably die alone (not after sympathy)

From the Guardian Unlimited

 

Robbie Williams

 

Croke Park, Dublin

 

Caroline Sullivan

Monday June 12, 2006

The Guardian

There's only one person in this army of 78,000 who isn't having a whale of a time, and that's the one around whom the whole thing revolves. Pink with exertion as he trots into the home stretch of the two-hour show, Robbie Williams is feeling critical of his opening-night performance. He's not simply miffed about having hit a bum note, or some such; he thinks the entire evening was below par.

"I don't feel I've done the best I can tonight. I haven't been very good." He pauses earnestly. "So I'm going to come back and do it again - for free." The video cameras mischievously swing toward Williams' manager at the side of the stage. His face is fixed in a stunned rictus grin. Clearly, he'll be having words with his charge about the recklessness of offering, in front of 78,000 witnesses, to stage a show of this magnitude (the tour programme lists no fewer than 200 personnel) "for free".

You can, however, understand where Williams is coming from. The one place in the world where he is second to none is on the stage. His gigs are where Robbie agnostics become believers, justifying his 10 years of ubiquity. If he doesn't cut it in front of an audience, where does that leave him?

 

And tonight, as he asserts, he wasn't all he could have been. For the first half-hour, he simply doesn't engage. Surprisingly for a celebrity who is positively American in offering a running account of his private life, tonight he's just not sharing. Radio and new single Sin Sin Sin generically chug by. After Trippin', he swigs a cup of tea, confessing: "I'm 32 and I'm knackered."

 

Finally, Williams turns from the disappointing Intensive Care album to the stuff we really want to hear, and a spark of life burns through his torpor. "I was wondering last night what it'd be like to have 90,000 people blow on me," he says, and from that surreal moment on, he's properly Robbie. Millennium, Strong and, obviously, Angels are melancholically perfect, and the Take That classic Back for Good gets a hammy kicking: "They reformed without me! They wouldn't have me on the tour!"

 

But just as he's about to end the show in triumph, a hydraulic lift malfunctions during Let Me Entertain You, forcing him to abort a stunt. It throws Williams into a funk, and this is when he contritely offers the free show. If it ever happens, and he's on form, it will be a heck of a party.

<_<

 

Any comments Scotty?

 

What a silly article, IC a dissapointing album :rolleyes:

 

He was amazing on friday, why is it only the f*cking British press who are giving him bad reviews :puke2:

 

yeah thats a stupid article...im sure many of the people in the crowds wouldnt have cared what he did at the concert just aslong as he showed up

Edited June 12, 200619 yr by osiris

From Ireland On-Line

 

 

Bets open on venue for Robbie's freebie gig

 

 

12/06/2006 - 14:08:48

 

Betting has opened on where Robbie Williams will play his promised free gig for Irish fans, after an on-stage stunt went wrong in Croke park at the weekend.

 

Williams was left suspended above the stage in a gondola-like construction when it failed to descend to the stage.

 

He finally made his own way back down to wind up the gig, one of 14 European dates on his Close Encounters tour.

 

"I'll be back before the end of the year," Williams told the sell-out crowd.

 

Bookies Paddy Power reckons that Robbie is most likely to play Marlay Park which is their 2/1 favourite, while a free return to Croke Park is priced at odds of 5/1.

 

For the optimists out there, Paddy Power are offering 33/1 that Robbie plays on the roof of U2’s hotel, The Clarence.

 

Where will Robbie Williams play his promised free gig – Paddy Power bet:

 

2/1 Marlay Park

 

7/2 RDS

 

5/1 Croke Park

 

5/1 Slane

 

6/1 Punchestown

 

7/1 The Point

 

7/1 Phoenix Park

 

12/1 Lansdowne Rd

 

33/1 Rooftop of Clarence Hotel

 

40/1 Dublin Castle

 

40/1 Vicar St

 

80/1 St. Stephens Green

 

100/1 O’Connell St

 

200/1 Scotty's Back Garden

 

250/1 Shelbourne Park

 

 

 

 

i dont think hed try repeating the greatness of slane