What is Marlay Park? A Football Ground or what? :unsure:

I have to agree with you Scotty, the Irish press gave him great reviews, so why do the Brits pull him down. Maybe it has something to do with him getting his detractors in a room and facing them. They will always win know matter what he does.

 

Its also funny (not) that I have a feeling there is empathy for Guy Chambers, and that anything RW did with Steven Duffy would not be welcomed. Its like they are ganging up. They do not like his new stuff.

 

Here is a better review, and I agree with what he says..Robbie was brilliant, his backdrop let him down, maybe there should be more screens so those right at the back could see him better, I also think he should have included a brass section in the band, that pads it out in these huge stadiums. Other than that, Robbie did what he always has done. Performed the pants of himself. Well done Robbie even if you feel awful about how it panned out.

 

Stuff the stunts, it's the songs that rock the stadium

(Filed: 12/06/2006)

 

Neil McCormick reviews Robbie Williams at Croke Park in Dublin

Three songs into the opening of his summer tour at the enormous Croke Park stadium in Dublin, Robbie Williams is puffing for breath. "I don't know how Mick Jagger keeps doing this," he gasps. "I'm 32 and I'm f***ing knackered."

 

Big, bold and emotional:

Robbie Williams

Playing stadiums is perhaps the most specialised task in popular entertainment, and not many performers do it particularly well. Spectacle, volume and big gestures are required to replace more subtle and intimate musical pleasures, and the tiny dot at the centre of the show has to have an ego and charisma big enough to hold the centre of vast spaces full of tens of thousands of other dots, many of them peering through binoculars. At least Jagger has a great band to share the load. Williams is really on his own out there.

The last band to play Croke Park were hometown heroes U2, and design-wise this is basically a U2 show, fronted by a Bono mini-me. It is a huge improvement on Williams's last end-of-the-pier karaoke set. Gone are the dancers and lazy backdrops, in come vast LED screens flashing ironic messages, neon-lit second stages, runways, platforms and pyrotechnics, all framed by two enormous cranes.

Yet, somehow, the hi-tech splendour only emphasises the emptiness at the heart of the experience. Not so much Zoo TV as Saturday night light entertainment with dry ice, this is the medium without the message, a show that barely even aspires to becoming more than the sum of its parts. At times, the leering, gurning silliness and bottom-of-the-barrel declarations ("I like tits!" proclaims Williams, as he marshals all the technology at his disposal to focus on some random cleavage) are cringe-inducing.

What he does have are songs: big songs, bold songs, emotional songs, with the kind of perfectly simple melodies and sentiments that can get 78,000 people belting them out in unison. When Williams and his fans lose themselves in the chorus of songs with as much yearning and vulnerability as Strong and Feel, you get a sense of how great he could really be.

He lives entirely in the moment. Delivering raunchy good-time pop, he looks as happy as a spring bunny, but during the self-lacerating Come Undone the big screens show him close to tears. There is something utterly compelling about witnessing this complicated everyman's neuroses played out in this enormous crucible, with the audience roaring loving approval as he confesses: "I am scum, but I'm your son."

The grand finale should have involved a vertigo-inducing descent from the top of a crane but, due to a technical hitch, Williams climbs up, only to have to climb back down, muttering about Spinal Tap. He gets away with it because the real climax is not a stunt, it is the crowd singing Angels with him. It is a moment that suggests Williams could still be doing this when he is as old as Jagger, he just needs to learn to trust his songs.

Hi Susie :cheer:

 

welcome back.

 

The Scottish press reports have been fine as well. The 2 main papers ( Daily Record, Sunday Mail) said his show was great.

It seems its just the English press who hate him.... :rolleyes:

Thank you Jupiter

 

Its heartbreaking for me to read the UK press reviews, not all, but the ones that have jumped on the clitch with glee have their knives out.

 

Well all I can say is, its funny how what he's been doing for the last 8 or 9 years was okay and now its not, but the more they do it the more we love him. :wub:

What is Marlay Park? A Football Ground or what? :unsure:

 

Marly Park is just a stupid park as far as i know -_- And how the f*ck is it favourite :huh: It only hold 20,000 people :rolleyes:

 

Pheonix Park should be favourite :arrr: Slane is'nt on this year so that is not possible and Landsdown road is closing down for construction <_<

 

The RDS hold less than 10,000 and U2 are playing in Scotty's Back garden ;)

Those odds are really crazy.

 

Dublin Castle? Yeah right. 80,000 people would definitely fit in the courtyard. :rolleyes:

Pop hunk takes on the locals

 

Robbie Williams caught World Cup fever this week when he joined an amateur soccer side for a game of football.

 

Accompanied by his best pal Jonathan Wilkes and various crew members, Robbie lined out against Beechwood FC at a pitch in the Royal Hospital in Donnybrook, Dublin.

 

Residents of a cul-de-sac on Appian Way that backs on to the hospital looked on in amazement just after 7pm last Thurs when a fleet of cars arrived on their quiet street to drop Robbie and entourage off for a game.

 

Wearing an orange bib, Robbie (32) was soon on the pitch knocking the ball around in what witnesses say was a relaxed 11-a-side match.

 

Autograph hunters were kept away by a team of security men patrolling all sides of the pitch.

 

One eye witness said: "The security around the game was ridiculous for an amateur football match. It looked like a scene from Escape to Victory where the Allied prisoners play the Germans."

 

We can reveal Robbie's connection to Beechwood FC comes through his Irish production manager Stephen Iredale (46), who plays for the Ranelagh side.

 

Passing the ball back and forth to Robbie, the former sound man - who is best known for his work with U2 - is now employed by Williams on his 2006 world tour and he looks after production management.

 

And the Irishman could soon be spending more time at home after Williams vowed to play a free gig in Dublin after a lucklustre show in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park on Friday night.

 

Disappointed by a series of gaffes(?), Robbie told the crowd: "I've not been very good tonight so I'm coming back to do another show for free."

 

Problems included a technical hitch which left Williams stuck on a gondola 100 feet above the stage.

 

Performing what should hve been a highlight of the concert Let Me Entertain You, Williams missed lyrics as he was forced to abandon the machine to try to make his way down to the stage before the song ended.

 

Just making it, a clearly shaken Williams told the crowd@ "That didn't go how it was supposed to go.

 

"It was supposed to be entertainment at its peak but when the man behind you tells you, 'It's f***ed', you panic and being in a white tracksuit isn't the best thing to be in.

 

"That's done my head in, you don't know how panic went through my mind when I was up there."

 

The singer was so upset he cut his set list short, missing out on track Kids, which was to have been his second encore before going into final song Angels.

 

Adament he would return to Dublin to play a better gig, Robbie then asked for the cameras to pick out his manager, David Enthoven, in the audience for an assurance a second date in the capital would be organised.

 

Getting a thumbs up, Williams added "Thank you for being here. I'll be back before the end of the year to give you a free concert."

 

Williams was said to be so disappointed by the show that he failed to turn up at the after show party in Dublin's Morrison Hotel.

 

Keith Sweeney

Star Sunday

 

 

 

Irish News

 

Ireland on Sunday.

 

ROBBIE PLEDGES FREE GIG FOR IRISH FANS AFTER HITCHES MAR OPENING SHOW

 

Although the reception from the crowd at Friday night's Robbie Williams gig in Croke Park was electric, the man himself was not pleased with his tour opener.

 

In fact, Williams was disappointed with his show that he promised to compensate his fans by returning to Dublin to play a free concert.

 

'I wasn't very good tonight' he told the 80,000 strong audience you guys were better than me'

 

Technical difficulties marred the second half of the chart topping singers' show.

 

During his penultimate number, Let Me Entertain You, Williams was supposed to decend on a gondola from a rig above the stage but the system failed and he was forced to rush back down on the stage on foot.

 

After the song, Williams explained what had happened to the huge crowd and apologised.

 

His pledge to host a free gig was greeted with massive applause from the already ecstatic crowd, pack in for his sale out gig.

 

'I'll be back before the end of the year' promised Williams.

 

After rumours of fake tickets and concerns that cheated fans might cause trouble, there was a large garda presence at the venue but the event passed without major incidents.

 

Garda were stationed in the areas surrounding the stadium and at Quinn's Bar. They were on alert for the circulation of fake tickets and, on a sunny evening the presence of alcohol.

 

Although most of the fans were simply enjoying a cold drink before going to see their idol perform.

 

No chances were being taken that those in possession of fake tickets would gain entry to the concert.

 

However, the heavy official presence did not dampen spirits.

 

Then as the opening notes of the first song soared in the Dublin sky all eyes and ears were on one man: Robbie Williams.

 

And when a visibly emotional Williams ended the evening with his song Angels, the crowd was already anticipating his next concert.

 

Free or not, they will be there. For while he may have felt the glitches spoiled the first night of his 12-date tour 80,000 people at Croker reckoned it was a winner.

 

ROBBIE WOWS CROKER ANGELS

by Enda Feeney

 

It is a sure sign that it's here at long last.

 

Although the sun was shining brightly all week, it took the arrival of the annual outdoor concert season for confirmation that the summer has finally arrived.

 

Four of the biggest names in showbiz - Robbie Williams, The Eagles, Guns n Roses and Metallica - are the curtain-raisers on a summer that will also see acts like Billy Joel, The Who and Fatboy Slim take to the stage across Ireland.

 

Yesterday, Robbie Williams - who arrived in Dublin in a Boeing private jet - was driven from his base at the Four Seasons Hotel in a blacked-out minibus. He was accompanied by a Garda escort as he arrived at Croke Park at 4pm.

 

Even though proceedings weren't due to start until 6pm, fans from all over Ireland and abroad began queueing outside from lunchtime.

 

When Robbie eventually took to the stage in front of 80,000 fans - wearing a Crombie overcoat and accompanied by a spectacular fireworks display - he launched straight into Radio before quickly following up with crowd pleasers Rock DJ and Tripping.

 

An onlooker said 'Robbie is a consummate entertainer.

 

'He had the crowd eating right out of his hand from the very start. Frankly, he probably could have come on and recited the phone book and they would have lapped it up.

 

'But in fairness to him, he put on a great show.'

 

Last night's show was the first concert in Robbie's new world tour. He is due to visit 12 other European countries as well as Australia in the coming months.

 

Music industry insiders say that he sells more records per capita in Ireland than in any other market.

 

 

Rob: Let me entertain you

The Sun

 

POP’S top heart-throb has been reduced to BEGGING to be Sexed Up.

 

It seems ROBBIE WILLIAMS hasn’t talked any girls into a bit of Sin Sin Sin for quite a while.

 

He says pals can’t believe he has been almost celibate for the past FIVE YEARS.

 

But his love ’em and leave ’em reputation means girls won’t put out on dates because he says they don’t want to be “like all the other girls.â€

 

Frustrated Rob said: “Girls think that by being ‘different’ I’m going to want them more. But I’m not.

 

“This has happened for the last five or so years. SLEEP WITH ME!

 

“It’s become a running joke how hard it is for me just to pull. I know people are ‘just having sex’ because it was going on in my house in the other bedrooms with boys that aren’t famous.

 

“I see little honesty in the ‘other girls’ statement. To me it means, ‘OK, so you’ve got a date with Robbie Williams. That’s safe, are you going to gamble and see if you can go for Robbie’s millions?’ â€

 

The singer’s frustrations peaked when models on his latest video Sin Sin Sin gave him mixed signals.

 

He fumed: “All the ones I fancied had boyfriends and, over the three days of shooting, led me a merry dance.â€

 

 

geez scotty its like homework having to read all this...still its good stuff

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003895243

 

Robbie Williams Is Dying To Marry

 

June 13, 2006 9:01 a.m. EST

 

 

Mary K. Brunskill - All Headline News Contributor

(BANG) - Robbie Williams is desperate to find a wife. The "Angels" singer - who has romanced a host of famous women in the past including model Rachel Hunter and singer Nicole Appleton - has confessed he can't wait to settle down.

 

He told Scotland's Daily Record newspaper, "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 a soul-sapping search."

 

The 38-year-old singer - who now lives in Los Angeles - also revealed he is tired of meeting shallow women.

 

He said, "The package looks great but when you get them home, they're wired up wrong. There are dating rules people use in Hollywood: 'Don't call until next day, and then don't get back to him for two days. It's all rubbish, if I spot them I respond in kind by never speaking to them again."

 

Robbie also revealed how he almost invited a schoolgirl back to his hotel room while shooting his "Sin Sin Sin" video in Cape Town.

 

He said, "I invited someone back to the hotel, a very pretty girl. I told our hairdresser and he said, "But she told me she's got school in the morning. I decided being arrested in South Africa wouldn't be fun.

 

All content provided by BANG showbiz

 

 

Am so glad robbie didnt get arrested in South Africa, would be no tour then

Edited June 13, 200619 yr by sparkle

From http://www.contactmusic.com

 

(so it must be true :rolleyes: )

 

 

CHURCH LAUGHS OFF ROBBIE WILLIAMS RUMOURS

 

 

 

CHARLOTTE CHURCH has laughed off rumours suggesting she is planning to dump boyfriend GAVIN HENSON for Los Angeles and ROBBIE WILLIAMS. The VOICE OF AN ANGEL singer insists she wants to settle down with her Welsh rugby star boyfriend, and has no intention of leaving her Welsh homeland. She says, "No, I'm not moving to LA to move in with Robbie! "I've never even met Robbie Williams and I'm not going to LA anyway."

13/06/2006 20:08

 

 

Regarding the Robbie wants to marry article, It looks like someone has bought the Tour programme, as Robbie's blogs appear as a feature in it. As for Charlotte Church, she has met him I thought, because she credits him with helping her cope with fame.

Edited June 13, 200619 yr by Susie

From http://www.thesun.co.uk

 

 

I won't be Leo the lion

By TONY LITTLE

 

LEO BEENHAKKER has said he would not want to be manager of England “in a million yearsâ€.

The Dutchman’s Trinidad & Tobago team take on the Three Lions in Nuremberg tomorrow.

 

And he admits he would hate the constant spotlight that goes with the job.

 

Beenhakker, 63, said: “Scrutiny is all part of the territory. It’s weird.

 

“But 90 per cent of my life is football and the rest is private so I wouldn’t be interested.â€

 

Midfield star Chris Birchall wants to beat England to get one over on Robbie Williams.

 

Pop superstar Williams borrowed the Port Vale man’s boots for a charity game in 2001 — but forgot to return them.

 

Birchall, 22, said: “I was a £70-a-week youth-team player at the time.

 

“I was only too pleased to lend Robbie my boots.

 

“They were expensive — but I never got them back.â€

 

 

:cry: :lol:

 

 

 

From http://guardian.co.uk

 

 

Just what does 'celibate' mean, Robbie?

 

Lucy Mangan

Wednesday June 14, 2006

The Guardian

 

 

Language is a slippery beast. From the moment man first thought, "I shall call this petrified lump that I am about to hurl - with the admirable blend of optimism and bellicosity from which will ultimately descend a global civilisation - a 'stone'," we have been weaving an ever more complex web of meanings, seeking to define the essentially indefinable, to build stable linguistic edifices on shifting sands of nuance and connotation, and frequently giving birth to bast*rdisations such as "infotainment" or simply horrible words such as "mucus" and "membrane".

 

It is a flexible tool. You can say, if you are Richard Burton, on Elizabeth Taylor: "She ... [was] famine, fire, destruction and plague ... the only true begetter. Her breasts were apocalyptic, they would topple empires before they withered ... She was lavish. She was a dark, unyielding largesse. She was, in short, too bloody much". Or if you are the Sun, on Nikkala from Middlesex: "Phwoar."

 

So let us take a moment (although I have a certain wariness of approaching the subject of celebrities and sex since positing a threesome with Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee here last week prompted a rush of information about troilism to my inbox that, while a tribute to the generous spirit of certain readers, was nevertheless too bloody much) to probe this week's announcement by Robbie Williams that he has, for the past five years, been "almost celibate". If we take the Shorter OED definition of celibacy as "the state of being unmarried", the man is clearly barking. He has, as many a recent interview attests, never found a woman with whom he could contemplate submitting to the bonds of holy matrimony and therefore cannot be almost unmarried. So one must conclude that the Robster is using the word in its more modern sense of sexual abstinence. Robbie, it seems, ain't gettin' any. Or rather, he almost ain't gettin' any.

 

One could phrase the pertinent question in the abstract: can one be almost celibate or is it an absolute state, an abstemious wasteland sharply delineated by the carnal woodlands abutting every border? Or one can put it more individually: is one man's "almost celibate" another man's "five-year period of being linked to some of the most desirable women in the world, including Kylie, Nicole Kidman and erm, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, but not having quite as much sex as you would like"?

 

But then we catch a glimpse of an even greater chasm yawning beneath his words. He goes on to claim that the laydeez aren't coming up with the goods because his reputation as a playboy/lothario/manwhore (you see what I was saying about nuance and connotation?) means they don't want to be "like all the other girls". Many might interpret this female sentiment as a sign that they do not wish to become another notch on the bedpost, but he, presumably with the help of the poetic sensibility that has made him such a master lyricist, decodes it differently. To him, apparently, it means: "OK, so you've got a date with Robbie Williams, that's safe. Are you going to gamble and see if you can go for Robbie's millions?" Truly, language is a quagmire of ambiguity. Easy to flounder - especially, it seems, when frustrated in your desires to bump mucus membranes with others.

 

 

Thought much the same myself to be honest :lol:

But he gives the press good copy Jupiter. :D This is the difference between him and other acts. Keep feeding them Robbie, nobody does it better. :)

His Tour is just getting bigger.

 

ROBBIE'S DOUBLE ACT

 

15jun06

BRITISH pop star Robbie Williams will play a second concert at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium in December, promoters say.

 

Williams will perform in Brisbane on December 13 and 14, with tickets for the second show to go on sale on June 21. The first show at the 50,000 seat venue sold out in half an hour.

 

Promoter Michael Chugg said the December 14 performance took the number of concerts on the Australian leg of Williams' Close Encounters World Tour to a total of eight, confirming Australia was the country with the most Williams concerts.

 

"Four of Robbie's originally announced five shows, including Brisbane, sold out within 30 minutes of opening to general sale and Queensland fans are being urged not to miss their second and absolutely final chance," he said.

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edited June 15, 200619 yr by Susie

I'm very happy for the Australian fans

Since we all don't know if and when Robbie is going on tour again after this one,

all his fans should be able to see him this year :heart:

 

QUEENSLAND BEAT THE BLUES …

NOW GREEN WITH ENVY

ROBBIE WILLIAMS CONFIRMED FOR SECOND BRISBANE CONCERT

… EIGHT TOTAL …

MAKING AUSTRALIA THE COUNTRY WITH THE MOST ROBBIE WILLIAMS CONCERTS

IN THE WORLD!

 

 

A jubilant Queensland today doubled last night’s State Of Origin victory receiving confirmation that Robbie Williams will play a second concert at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Thursday December 14.

 

“Tickets will go on sale in less than a week, next Wednesday June 21,†declared triumphant Australian promoter Michael Chugg. “So, Queenslanders get ready!â€

 

The December 14 Brisbane Suncorp Stadium concert takes the Australian leg of Robbie Williams: Close Encounters World Tour to a total of eight, confirming Australia is now THE country with the most Robbie Williams’ concerts.

 

“Other than the robbiewilliams.com Inner Sanctum members’ exclusive pre-sale, there will be no others,†said Chugg. “The same six ticket limit per transaction will apply when we go to General Public sale next Wednesday.â€

 

Chugg said that even though it’s less than a week away, a date clear of other event launches was chosen specifically to increase fans’ access to Ticketek and to roll out fast and efficient purchases.

 

Four of Robbie’s originally announced five shows, including Brisbane, sold out within 30 minutes of opening to general on- sale and Queensland fans are being urged not miss their second and absolutely final chance.

 

At Suncorp Stadium for last night’s footy clash, and back again for today’s announcement, Chugg received confirmation as he was readying for his trip here.

 

“We wanted fans to know about this as soon as we had approval from Robbie’s management,†he said. “Disappointed fans, thousands who petitioned our website, need to know as quickly as we can get it out there that they have a second chance and, most importantly, that legitimate priced tickets are available.

 

“Fans don’t have to resort to exorbitant e-bay hijackers. 50,000 more tickets are up for grabs, at the right price, from rightful ticketing agencies.â€

 

Promoting for forty four years, the “I dared, closed my eyes and crossed my fingers†Everest-high achievement humbles the usually flamboyant and loud Chugg who today celebrates his 59th birthday with what he definitely considers his career summit.

 

“Robbie Williams loves Australia and, clearly, Australia loves him back – 400,000 times – but this type of concert success is unprecedented in this country, and two concerts of 50,000 each in Queensland was, until today, unthinkable.

 

“That’s the equivalent of almost ten Brisbane Entertainment concerts. Ten! No music artist has done that before.â€

 

Robbie was last in Queensland in 2001 and played one Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

“Doing stadium-capacity concerts in five of the country’s capitals was daring. A risk. Now we’ve got multiple stadium concerts along the east coast. That’s how big and how good Robbie Williams is.

 

“You dream and you hope but you never – can never – go in expecting this type of tremendous, and exact, demand,†said Chugg with audible and genuine sentiment.

 

“Robbie Williams’ Australian fans have made this happen and it’s without question the best birthday present I’ve ever had.

 

“Thanks Australia. Thanks Robbie,†Chugg finished, as he cut his cake and made his next big wish.

 

Dream no longer Queensland. It has come true. Robbie Williams is confirmed for a second concert at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, Thursday December 14.