Robbie Williams in Vienna: Life story through stand-up, hits and 'spiritual renewal'

 

Siniša Miklažić-March 18, 23

Given that the June dates in Pula do not suit me at all, and it was high time for another Robbie Williams concert, it is quite clear that the winning combination turned out in the form of yesterday's concert in Vienna.

 

My story with Robbie is actually simple... I never liked Take That, I found the cover of "Freedom" annoying (like most covers), "Old Before I Die" and "South of the Border" forgettable singles, while "Lazy Days" exactly Britpop 'lazy'... After that, every moment until the album "Escapology" was phenomenal, it grew more and more (both in popularity and in my heart). "Intensive Care" was the first slip-up, the "Rudebox" album that I want to erase from my memory, but I can't at all (I believe that he has similar attitudes, considering that he rarely plays anything from that album), and after that I some singles hit, primarily the silly "Candy" and the emotionally beautiful "Love My Life".

 

Just when I started to 'lose faith' in him, he appeared on Maksimir, and then I was simply captivated by his entertaining note that turned a rainy evening into a magical night. Before the concert, my girlfriend at the time, and now my wife, asked me why we were going, and I told her that she trusted me, that she would surely sing most of the songs... Not only did we sing, we came back so full of emotions that I had to repeat the situation a couple of years later at the stadium in Vienna. Then he seemed a little uninterested to me, as if he was 'doing his job', although everything was more than professionally done.

 

He supports music

Why am I saying all this? Because this was his best concert that I attended, as if he finally put all the pieces together in his head and literally lives "Love My Life". And how could he not, when he has achieved everything he should (and could!) in life, and after a 30+ year career, he still fills large halls and stadiums. This was also the case in the Wiener Stadthalle two nights in a row. But let's start from the beginning of the evening...

 

Yesterday's concert was opened by Lufthaus. Lufthaus is the duo of Tim Metcalfe and Flynn Francis, and their 'imaginary' friend Robbie Williams. Although they have been collaborating for a long time (since the album “Take the Crown”), on the Lufthaus project Robbie 'borrows' vocals on many songs. In reality it looks like this, one of them (Tim or Flynn) hits a button on the mixtape, and then they start jumping and dancing, while RW sings from the big wall. When he is not singing, one of the two sings. All of this is filled with electronic beats, it probably belongs to the realm of raves, and if they were after the RW concert, it would certainly be a real party. This is how the hectic warm-up turned out. A surprising choice, but not a bad one, I'd say.

 

At 20:38, Robbie bursts onto the stage with a large band and dancers. An already established introduction for this tour, he started with "Hey Wow Yeah Yeah" and "Let Me Entertain You". There was already one thing that I noticed on Monday. I simply don't know the 'Vienna audience' anymore. Always restrained, even at Gizzards, and now at RW, they were crazy, well, positively crazy, singing, dancing, waving their hands... When "Monsoon" came on, it felt even better... Even then it was clear that this would be an evening to remember (can you expect anything less from him?).

 

The most important story of this concert is the story itself (we all know the hits, right?!). Although he used to talk a lot, now he has a clear story throughout the performance. As he is incredibly comical (for some it is certainly irritating because he likes to provoke others, but also make fun of himself), so it works like a stand-up comedy with a filled time with music. I would say, an ideal combination! Speaking of which, Robbie is somewhere halfway between Balasevic and Amanda Palmer. While Balašević always told his charming stories full of humor, Amanda tells all her most intimate problems.

 

Robbie has been through a lot, so now he openly says that he was on '76 withdrawal from opiates', that he didn't drink a drop of alcohol for more than 20 years, that he struggled with depression for a long time because he came on the covers of all the magazines too soon (he only had 16 years old when he joined Take That!)... On the other hand, he freezes his naked ass on large video walls from the first music video of that boy band, tells in a funny way the whole history of him there (that's why we get a cover of "The Flood" and Oasis' "Don 't Look Back in Anger")... In general, I don't want to reveal too much because in three months something similar will follow here.

 

However, the strongest moment of the concert was near the end, before the unmissable "Angels". There he bared his soul to the end talking about his depression, so how one day becomes a week, a week becomes a month, a month becomes a year, a year becomes a decade, and a decade becomes two and a half decades... That monologue lasted almost 5 minutes (according to my free estimate ) and I believe that we all cried together with him who could not hold back the tears in his eyes. He says that he was saved by his wife (and his four children), and an audience like this one in Vienna. I believe him! I also believe what I wrote above, that he is finally in the "Love My Life" phase, and that he is not burdened by what others (possibly) think of him. We can learn a lot from his experiences...

 

In almost two hours (perhaps only a minute was missing to complete 2 hours), we got a real spectacle. RW once again showed that he is an entertainer that is rarely born, everything goes well for him, and he holds the audience in the palm of his hand during the entire performance. And how could he not, when during that career he had so many hits that whatever he played, it would probably be equally good. Ok, just kidding, "Rudebox" still needs to be triple jumped.

 

I don't know if yesterday I was at a stand-up, a concert or a 'spiritual renewal', but today, even though I'm sleep-deprived, I feel phenomenal, because I simply needed that positive energy that this English charmer has.

 

https://www.muzika.hr/izvjestaji/robbie-wil...duhovnu-obnovu/

Edited March 18, 20232 yr by Sydney11

VIENNA 2023

 

 

 

Video thanks to Daniela Krempaska

 

 

 

 

Gosh 20 years !

 

DavidFebruary 28th 2023

 

Over a 20 year wait but finally got to see Mr Robbie Williams and he did not disappoint. The trip from the states to Copenhagen was well worth it, No Regrets!

Copenhagen, Denmark@Royal Arena

 

https://www.bandsintown.com/e/1026309042-ro...-at-accor-arena

So Robs in Paris tonight

 

Remember this from 2003

 

 

 

 

 

@1638096350582648833

MONSOON - PARIS - MARCH 20TH

 

 

 

 

Video thanks to Benjamin TOURDES

There's some happy people :)

 

 

 

 

Video thanks to Benjamin TOURDES

Edited March 21, 20232 yr by Sydney11

@1638106968270290946

Last night in Paris… Robbie Williams

 

Robbie Williams can be blamed for a lot of things: not having published a good record for 20 years, having run after Freddie Mercury at the risk of becoming Barry Manilow. Or refuse to take pictures standing because his manager thinks he should be seated. But there is one point that will never change: Robbie Williams is one hell of a showman.

 

To celebrate his 25-year career, 30 if we include his presence in Take That, the native of Stoke-on-Trent embarked on a best-of tour last October. No new songs to champion, no average albums to promote, no, just Robbie, himself and his ego. So last night, in a jam-packed Accor Arena, Robbie Williams pressed the accelerator from the first title. Eight musicians, three singers and five dancers accompany him on “Hey Wow Yeah Yeah” which is anything but a subtle appetizer. No, the sound explodes the eardrums of the Parisians, the giant screens film the slightest movements of the boss and the group plays as if they were at Wembley Stadium.#

 

We go up a gear with “Let me entertain you”, an obvious song, not the most subtle either, but which has become over the years a unifying anthem. Robbie does not spare his efforts to take the 17,000 spectators from Bercy to his ship. Decked out in a football shirt bearing his name (Friendly Williams), Robbie goes into contact with his fans, slips two or three words of French into each of his speeches and above all continues the hits. “Monsoon”, “Strong” and “Come Undone”, all three released more than 20 years ago, give Bercy the look of a collective and flamboyant mass, all carried by a clumsy but devilishly effective group.

 

-

Robbie Williams can be blamed for a lot of things: not having published a good record for 20 years, having run after Freddie Mercury at the risk of becoming Barry Manilow. Or refuse to take pictures standing because his manager thinks he should be seated. But there is one point that will never change: Robbie Williams is one hell of a showman.

 

To celebrate his 25-year career, 30 if we include his presence in Take That, the native of Stoke-on-Trent embarked on a best-of tour last October. No new songs to champion, no average albums to promote, no, just Robbie, himself and his ego. So last night, in a jam-packed Accor Arena, Robbie Williams pressed the accelerator from the first title. Eight musicians, three singers and five dancers accompany him on “Hey Wow Yeah Yeah” which is anything but a subtle appetizer. No, the sound explodes the eardrums of the Parisians, the giant screens film the slightest movements of the boss and the group plays as if they were at Wembley Stadium.

 

We go up a gear with “Let me entertain you”, an obvious song, not the most subtle either, but which has become over the years a unifying anthem. Robbie does not spare his efforts to take the 17,000 spectators from Bercy to his ship. Decked out in a football shirt bearing his name (Friendly Williams), Robbie goes into contact with his fans, slips two or three words of French into each of his speeches and above all continues the hits. “Monsoon”, “Strong” and “Come Undone”, all three released more than 20 years ago, give Bercy the look of a collective and flamboyant mass, all carried by a clumsy but devilishly effective group.

 

“Tonight is therapy for me and entertainment for you,” says Robbie as he turns to the “shit seats” – the crappy seats, installed behind the stage with a reduced view of the hero of the evening. Robbie takes on two women, sends security to get them to seat them in front of him, in the front row. Obviously the crowd loves it. Then the singer – who gives more and more the impression of having embarked on a one-man-show, launches into a story of his Take That years.

 

Supporting video, he returns to these “embarrassing” moments such as this first clip where the Boys Band launches into a totally ridiculous form of “soft gay porn”. “Then I took drugs and went to the Glastonbury festival, where I saw the biggest band in the world,” he smiles before taking over “Don’t look Back in Anger” from Oasis. The sequence ends with a version of “The Flood”, Take That’s latest hit, which went unnoticed in France.

 

After the boy band chapter, place in the intimate with “Love my life” dedicated to his 4 children, then “Eternity” dedicated to his friend Geri Halliwell, the ex-Spice Girls who helped him to become sober. Paris applauds his intimate, sincere confessions, which give the concert the appearance of an XXL psychotherapy session. Fortunately, a final salvo of hits put music back at the heart of the debate. “Feel” sung by a Bercy bursting with energy, then “Kids” and finally “Rock DJ” make the stands rise, delighted with a chatty but funny and friendly evening.

 

As a reminder, Robbie has put on his sequined dressing gown – probably taken from Elton John’s wardrobe – and launches into a “No Regrets” that sums it all up. Calling out a woman in the front row, the fanatic digresses for long minutes with Nicole – who does not speak English, but who lets herself be charmed by the comic singer. “She’s the One” only postpones this moment awaited by the whole room, that of “Angels” cosmic hit and end point of all the concerts of the Englishman since 1998. But before that, Robbie settles on a chair, in the center of the huge proscenium to tell how these last 30 years have been rich in emotions. “Over twenty years in depression, with ups and downs, and you who have always been there for me. So thank you very much for all that”. At 1:50 a.m. mass is said. Robbie Williams, 49, comes off the stage like a boxer who won by knockout. All he has to do is imagine what happens next.

 

Setlist for March 20, Paris, Accor Arena

 

1/ Hey Wov Yeah Yeah

2/ Let me entertain you

3/ Land of 1000 Dances

4/ Monsoon

5/ Strong

6/ Come Undone

7/ Don’t look in Anger

8/ The Flood

9/ Love my life

10/ Eternity

11/ Candy

12/ Feel

13/ Kids

14/ Rock DJ

15/ No Regrets

16/ She’s the one

17/ Angels

 

https://euro.dayfr.com/trends/56472.html

Edited March 21, 20232 yr by Sydney11

So, Switzerland finally added!

 

22.08.2023 - OpenAir Festival, Zurich

https://www.ticketcorner.ch/en/artist/robbie-williams/

https://zurichopenair.ch/tickets/

 

 

How many shows is he now in the XXV tour? It seems that he holds up very well. This is a long tour. Fingers crossed it will continue like this.

I will update the list by weekend =)

But you can look at this and add 2 concerts more (Mexico and Zurich): http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?s...t&p=7277073

Edited March 22, 20232 yr by Better Man

 

Robbie Williams does the show @ Paris, Bercy.

 

A good concert overall but a little too much talking between the songs. A Robbie Williams who dedicates songs to some of his fans, brings others up on stage... it's a little over the phone but it's is nice.

Some good songs others a little less good but a real "entertainer".

 

 

Lots & lots of pics in the link below :)

 

https://rockerparis.blogspot.com/

ROCK DJ - VIENNA with Rob wearing a bit of everything :lol:

 

 

 

 

Video thanks to Steffi1712

Edited March 22, 20232 yr by Sydney11

Robbie Williams does the show @ Paris, Bercy.

 

A good concert overall but a little too much talking between the songs. A Robbie Williams who dedicates songs to some of his fans, brings others up on stage... it's a little over the phone but it's is nice.

Some good songs others a little less good but a real "entertainer".

Lots & lots of pics in the link below :)

 

https://rockerparis.blogspot.com/

 

 

I do wonder how the chats about his life go down in places where English isn't the first language.

 

Maybe some of it is hard to follow?

I don't think so. Most of what he says is known by the fans anyway and all non-native speakers are used to read English being a fan of a UK born star. Well, there are parts we do not understand even if English is the corporate language we use these days. But there is always help from native speakers :-)

I read that some young people also learn Korean to understand the lyrics of BTS and Korean pop groups. This I assume is difficult :-)

I don't think so. Most of what he says is known by the fans anyway and all non-native speakers are used to read English being a fan of a UK born star. Well, there are parts we do not understand even if English is the corporate language we use these days. But there is always help from native speakers :-)

I read that some young people also learn Korean to understand the lyrics of BTS and Korean pop groups. This I assume is difficult :-)

 

That's good to hear Elisabeth -because I gather from the reviews I read that there is the same amount of chat still in the shows as there was in the UK shows (and that is a lot). So it doesn't appear to have been modified.

 

Entertainment is pretty universal it seems :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

Robbie Williams shares the secret of happiness at Palau Sant Jordi. 18,000 people accompany the therapeutic show of the British singer

 

Following the Cruyffist philosophy, this Friday at the Palau Sant Jordi it was about going out and enjoying, both the 18,000 spectators who had paid between 50 and 128 euros for the entrance and the English singer Robbie Williams. After all, on this tour with two dates in Barcelona (repeats on Saturday) it's about celebrating that the former Take That released his first album under his own name, Life thru a lens, a quarter of a century ago . We celebrate that we are alive, which is not a small thing, and we dance recognizing melodies and singing refrains. This was the slogan, consciously or unconsciously agreed upon, to spend time with someone who all these years in the business, and even more if we include those he dedicated to the boy band, have legitimized him as a stage animal: a prince of pop with unquestionable success, especially between 1997 and 2003, and enough existential understatements to feed several washrooms. A Tarambana star who was tender and tender at the same time appeared with an un-British delay at 9.53pm as the band blasted Hey wow yeah yeah at blasting volume and six female dancers occupied the front of the stage. All in an arrangement between the West End musical and a Las Vegas supershow with multi-screens, rhythmic euphoria and brass section ready to take off the songs.

 

Dressed in a golden waistcoat (he gradually added more clothes until he finished the concert with a bat and everything), he immediately turned to the seminal hit Let me entertain you and walked the phallic catwalk in the shape of an arrow who made his way onto the court among the crowd, much of whom settled into what the British call "a certain age," like Williams himself, who recently turned 49. In other words, those who have children who can now stay at home alone without a babysitter. The ovation was up to the volume. The version of Land of a thousand dances, the supersoul immortalized in the 60s by Wilson Pickett, completed the opening set with all the stage ammunition, and there was no shortage of self-parody humor when he ran out of air before taking on Monsoon: he blamed the covid, not the age

 

"Tiki-taka motherf***ers"

Robbie Williams has plenty of resources as the master of ceremonies (" I love you, Barcelona, ​​tiki-taka motherf***ers ", he said recalling the legacy of Guardiola), he controls the tempos of the musical comedy well enough as the sympathetic heir to a lineage charismatic (that of English vaudeville and also the one that united Oliver Reed and Ian Dury) and shows a lot of confidence in the wind in favor of Sant Jordi to the point of proclaiming that it was a night full of happiness: "The best show of the tour" , said soaping the respectable, who indeed lived up to the big nights.

 

 

All this makes it matter little that the voice judges from time to time. In addition, he plays the card of proximity, interpellates the audience constantly and allows himself to invite a couple to go on stage while he sings Come undone ; then he lets them sit in a privileged space in front of the arrowhead and even dedicates Love my life to the children. And if necessary, he gets serious, does therapy explaining overcome trances (those "pockets full of cocaine" at the Glastonbury Festival in the 90s, "the voices inside the head" and the well of "depression" from which he came thanks to family and fans) and is dramatically vulnerable, as when he remembered that, trapped in alcoholism, the options were to stop drinking or die.sitting on a stool, this time making good use of the expressive resources of the voice.

 

https://www.ara.cat/cultura/musica/robbie-w..._1_4660271.html

Edited March 25, 20232 yr by Sydney11

@1639549253885341698

p.s. I believe 1,08M in Europe is the highest result in his career but I need to check it later.

I was wrong. In 2006 there were more

 

I've updated the list (by 25.03.2023).

 

---

 

OCTOBER 2022

09 The O2, London 20,000

10 The O2, London 20,000

15 Resorts World, Birmingham 15,600

16 Resorts World, Birmingham 15,600

19 AO Arena, Manchester 21,000

21 AO Arena, Manchester 21,000

22 AO Arena, Manchester 21,000

24 OVO Hydro, Glasgow 13,000

25 OVO Hydro, Glasgow 13,000

26 OVO Hydro, Glasgow 13,000

29 3Arena, Dublin 14,500

30 3Arena, Dublin 14,500

 

NOVEMBER 2022

01 3Arena, Dublin 14,500

06 The Royal Albert Hall, London 5,500 - ONE-OFF SHOW

07 The Royal Albert Hall, London 5,500 - ONE-OFF SHOW

15 Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, DE 2,500 - ONE-OFF SHOW

 

DECEMBER 2022

08 Doha Golf Club, Doha, Qatar 25,000 - ONE-OFF SHOW

 

JANUARY 2023

20 – Unipol Arena, Bologna, IT 11,000

21 – Unipol Arena, Bologna, IT 11,000

26 – Sportpaleis, Antwerp, BE 23,000

28 – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, NED 17,000

29 – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, NED 17,000

 

FEBRUARY 2023

1 – Barclays Arena, Hamburg, DE 16,000

2 – Barclays Arena, Hamburg, DE 16,000

5 – Lanxess Arena, Cologne, DE 18,500

6 – Lanxess Arena, Cologne, DE 18,500

8 – Lanxess Arena, Cologne, DE 18,500

13 – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, NED 17,000

15 – Festhalle, Frankfurt, DE 13,500

16 – Festhalle, Frankfurt, DE 13,500

20 – Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin, DE 17,000

21 – Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin, DE 17,000

24 – Barclays Arena, Hamburg, DE 16,000

26 – Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning, DK 12,500

27 – Royal Arena, Copenhagen, DK 16,000

 

MARCH 2023

1 – Avicii Arena, Stockholm, SW 15,000

5 – Nokia Arena, Tampere, FN 15,000

9 – Arena Riga, LV 14,500

10 – Zalgirio Arena, Kaunas, LT 20,000

12 – Tauron Arena, Krakow, PL 18,000

14 – Papp László Budapest Sportarena, HU 20,000

16 – Stadthalle, Vienna, AT 16,000

17 – Stadthalle, Vienna, AT 16,000

20 – Accor Arena, Paris, FR 20,000

24 – Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, ES 18,000

25 – Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, ES 18,000

27 – Altice Arena, Lisbon, PO 20,000

 

MAY 2023

13/14 – Tecate Emblema, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico, MX 65,000

28 – North Music Festival, Porto, PO 35,000

 

JUNE 2023

1 – Summer in the City, Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv, IL 40,000

3 – Summer in the City, Constitutiei Square, Bucharest, RO 50,000

10 – Heartland Festival, Kværndrup, DK 14,000

15 – Marenostrum Fuengirola, Malaga/Fuengirola, ES 17,000

17 – Pinkpop Festival 2023, Landgraaf, NED 60,000

18 – Isle Of Wight Festival 2023, Isle Of Wight, UK 50,000

22 – Bergenhus Festning, Koengen, Bergen, NO 23,500

24 – Telenor Arena, Oslo, NO 25,000

27 – Pula Arena, Pula,HR 7,000

28 – Pula Arena, Pula, HR 7,000

 

JULY 2023

01 – Rockwave Festival 2023, Terra Stage, Malakasa, GR 21,000

06 – MadCool Festival 2023, Madrid, ES 60,000

08 – Monte do Gozo, Santiago de Compostela, ES 35,000

10 – Luxexpo Open Air 2023, Kirchberg, LX 16,000

11 – Luxexpo Open Air 2023, Kirchberg, LX 16,000

13 – Vieilles Charrues 2023, Carhaix-Plouguer, FR 52,000

15 – Pori Jazz Festival, Pori, FI 27,000

22 - Castle Hochosterwitz, Launsdorf, AU 20,000

28 - Lucca Summer Festival, Lucca, IT 50,000

 

AUGUST 2023

22 - OpenAir Festival, Zurich, CH 30,000

24 - Fosos, Floriana, MT 45,000

26 - Sandringham House, Sandringham, UK 18,000

27 - Sandringham House, Sandringham, UK 18,000

 

NOVEMBER 2023

11 - ​Mission Estate | Hawke’s Bay, NZ 25,000

12 - ​Mission Estate | Hawke’s Bay, NZ 25,000

16 ​- Allianz Stadium | Sydney, NSW, AU 45,500

18 ​- Sirromet Wines | Mount Cotton, QLD, AU – A Day On The Green 22,000

19 ​- Sirromet Wines | Mount Cotton, QLD, AU – A Day On The Green 22,000

22 ​- AAMI Park | Melbourne, VIC, AU 30,000

23 ​- AAMI Park | Melbourne, VIC, AU 30,000

26 - 2023 VALO Adelaide 500, Adelaide, AU 20,000

25 ​- Mt Duneed Estate | Geelong, VIC, AU – A Day On The Green 20,000

30 ​- Nikola Estate | Swan Valley, WA, AU – A Day On The Green 20,000

 

DECEMBER 2023

1 ​- Nikola Estate | Swan Valley, WA, AU – A Day On The Green 20,000

 

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Total in UK and Ireland (13+3): 313,000

Total in Europe (50): 1,110,000

Total in OZ (11): 279,500

Total Other World (2): 105,000

Total ONE-OFF SHOWS (4): 38,500

 

---

 

Total XXV TOUR audience (79 shows): 1,807,500

Total XXV ONE-OFF shows (4): 38,500

 

---

 

SUM TOTAL (83): 1,846,000

 

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Remarks:

- ONE-OFF shows like Dubai and Albert Hall aren't technically a part of the XXV Tour, so let's count them seperately. They are in VIOLET.

- in BOLD - new added shows since my last update

Thank you, Alex.

This is quite a huge tour. I wonder if there will be more dates in South America this year or maybe 2024 and this year Mexico is only a test