Robbie arises with great spectacle

Translated from: www.spitsnet.nl

'Naive thinking that the WK-mania during a concert of one man would stay outside the lines of the Amsterdam ArenA. Better yet: Robbie Williams even knew how to wrap hardcore Orange fans that would have rather stayed at home this Wednesday evening in front of the TV around his finger. Football may be emotion, but Robbie also couldn’t keep it dry.

Smoke clouds and fire spitting installations next to the stage. Like a phoenix Robbie Williams arises after three years in a sold-out football temple. Such a spectacular kick-off can be expected. And the orange tint to his show is a shot in open goal. Theatrically he kisses his orange scarf and drinks from an orange cup. Clearly on the hand of the Lions legion he reports the sub score every now and then. Because as it is he has another surprise lying behind the scenes: player’s shirts. The rumour went that Williams, as soon as a goal would have been scored on 'our side', would come with the shirt number of the scorer. When it comes to tease, please and entertain his audience nothing is too much for Robbie. Of course he shows his tattooed tummy en he makes the microphone disappear between his lips. Even so, this time he is pretty brave and for instance the song Come Undone remained without the usual tongue scene. The enfant terrible really seems to be pubered out, but has kept some monkey tricks. That pluche pointy hat with 'Robbie' on one side and 'Holland' on the other side is put on his head, in front of his mouth and as an elongation of his private parts. And giving a whipped cream cake just like that to the band member that has her birthday was just not Robbian enough. He just really had to put his snout in it. On stage there is - to be short- nothing to be detected about the spiritual atmosphere that his most recent album Intensive Care breathes out: tarot cards in the cover and his cheeky remark on the bonus-dvd that only a wife would be able to save him from Scientology. Whatever, with the old hits all the arms go up in the air massively. Even during Back For Good, with a little stingy remark about the Take That reunion-tour for which Williams supposedly hadn’t been invited. Playfully he dares to take a few musical sidesteps; mixes in a Bob Marley-classicer during Tripping, which actually distantly echoes reggae, and does a couplet of Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side. That football keeps lurking in the background all that time, becomes clear during the second half when he kicks a ball into the audience during a karaoke version of Strong together with his bosom friend Jonathan Wilkes (actor and musical star). For nothing masculine is strange to Williams. Scoring he does even so well after this rest. Even twice. Suddenly he lets hear and see that he, if he wants to, can do more than entertain. Both with Feel and Angels, he really sings and tears glisten in his green grey eyes with which he normally only tempts and glances. And that brings this show to a more satisfying final score than the zero-zero it remained outside the ArenA.'