Allianz Stadium, November 16<\/strong>
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Robbie Williams is more than the sum of his parts. A bit of a crooner, but no Sinatra. A bit of a dancer, but no Michael Jackson. A bit of a lad, but no Gallagher. Yet put it all together and you get a package that is better than it logically should be.<\/p>\n
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Robbie Williams delivers a package that is better than it logically should be.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Edwina PIckles<\/cite><\/p>\n What elevates these otherwise-middling elements is that star persona. Lazily described as a supersized ego, his vulnerability shows it is much more complex than that. Take tonight\u2019s cover of Don\u2019t Look Back in Anger<\/i>: the humility in doing a song by Oasis, despite their mocking of him and his allegations of their bullying; the swagger in doing it as well as the original; the desperation to give the audience a great sing-along moment. Above all, Robbie\u2019s organising principle is a desire to be loved and he works his socks off to achieve it.<\/p>\n This takes him far beyond the stock-standard expressions of love for Australia and his cheekily disparaging the Kiwi audiences he was flattering last week, and extends to singing his heart out on a cover of Australian anthem You\u2019re the Voice<\/i>. The rambling, self-mythologising anecdotes that structure and fill what feels like a third of the show are pathetic in both senses of the word and yet are calculated to elicit maximum sympathy.<\/p>\n Rambling personal anecdotes fill what feels like a third of the show.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Edwina Pickles<\/cite><\/p>\n Utterly self-aware, he peppers his main set with audience favourites Let Me Entertain You<\/i>, Come Undone <\/i>and Angels<\/i> and shamelessly reprises them in an a cappella medley as the literal encore that closes the night. No musical snob indulging deep cuts from late-career irrelevance, Robbie will do anything to win our love.<\/p>\n Pausing to facilitate a marriage proposal from one fan to his girlfriend, dedicating She\u2019s the One<\/i> to lovely middle-aged Tina in the front row, getting the 50,000-strong audience to record a message to his five-year-old daughter back home \u2013 there is no trick too schmaltzy in his frantic pursuit for approval. It\u2019s that persona, you see: like it or not, you walk away from a Robbie Williams show feeling you\u2019ve intimately, personally met him and, for even the most cynical critic, he is impossible not to love.<\/p>\n The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from books editor Jason Steger. <\/i><\/b>Get it delivered every Friday<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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