Dubai gets Robbied [review Dubai]

Quoted from: http://archive.gulfnews.com

' Appearing in a far corner of the stage dressed in a black trench coat, the charismatic singer launched into one of his biggest hits, Radio, followed by Rock DJ.

By Mubashera Asgher, Staff Writerr

If you missed the Robbie mania on April 21 at Nad Al Sheba, here's the lowdown

Robbie Williams made Dubai a promise and on April 21, he more than lived up to it.
As dramatic shots of Robbie flashed on the giant screens and the hysteria reached an all-time high, with thousands of fans doing the wave, thousands others screaming his name, thousands more jostling for a spot that would give them a prime view of the stage, Robbie emerged at Nad Al Sheba amidst balls of fire and laser lights.
Appearing in a far corner of the stage dressed in a black trench coat, the charismatic singer launched into one of his biggest hits, Radio, followed by Rock DJ, a song that got everyone jumping and screaming in delight.
It was obvious to everyone present that the Robster's got the gift of gab and a large chunk of his concert here involved chatting up the crowd. Not just the ladies, mind you, the entire crowd.
At one point in the evening, when Robbie asked the guys to shout out to him, the response was clearly more than just a grunt.
For two hours, Robbie charmed the pants off Dubai - and in the case of some of the girls in the audience, it was literal.
He enthralled the crowd with his energy, self-depricating humour and witty impersonations of fellow performers such as his former band Take That, Michael Jackson, a horny giraffe, a camel (!), Jamiroquai and, on more than one occasion Jennifer Lopez.
Her crime? Daring to perform in Dubai so soon after this concert. Robbie even went on to say that J.Lo probably postponed her concert to May as - amid an onslaught of coughs - she didn't sell enough tickets. That was the cheeky attitude fans paid so much for.
Another joke that seemed to go down well with the many South Africans in the crowd was when Robbie spoke about the shoot of his latest video Sin Sin Sin, in South Africa.
"I shot my new video for Sin Sin Sin in Cape Town the other day and had the pleasure to be surrounded by 17 of the country's top models. Sadly every single one of them had a boyfriend ... But luckily, two of them didn't mind for one night?"
Stand up comedian or entertainer beyond par. You decide.
The evening ended the way it had begun; Amidst great balls of fire. For his encore, Robbie came on to do a scorchin' version of Let Me Entertain You. So scorchin' in fact, that at the end of the song, there was a burning hole in the stage.
More than his performance, what totally endeared him to the crowd is the fact that he's human, and he wasn't embarrassed to admit it.
During his encore, during the singalong Strong, while every one of the 25,000 or so audience was singing along with Rob, he messed up and sang the wrong verse. An impish grin and a shrug later, Robbie was in tune with the audience again and got the words right this time.
The grand finale was - naturally - Angels. And exactly the way it happens at Robbie concerts all over the world, it did here in Dubai too.
The Robster barely needed to sing more than a few lines of the chorus of the song. It was the audience, with a million lighters in the air, who did all the singing for him.'