Amsterdam ArenA concert 25 june 2006 (review)

By Alexandra, 28 June 2006

The 51.000 visitors of the Amsterdam ArenA concert of Robbie Williams on the 25th of June did not suffer much from the little rain outside, with the ArenA stadium, the football temple, having a giant roof. Inside the ArenA it appeared like a warm sunny day with a relaxed and good spirited atmosphere. The support acts by Orson and Basement Jaxx were good. Dressed in colourful costumes they geared up the crowd, Basement Jaxx resembling the 'Wicked Witch from the East' of the Wizard of Oz musical.
The excitement arose, as it appeared that Robbie would appear on stage around 21:00. The audience was in a very good mood and 51.000 people decided to do 'The Wave'. Behind the stage some movement could be seen. The audience started shouting 'Holland!! Holland!!' to welcome Robbie. Then everything got silent... The world-famous melody tunes from the science-fiction movie 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind' played, along with the visualisation of the tunes, just like in the movie. A Close Encounter was about to happen... The audience was anxiously searching the giant Spaceship-like stage for any movement that might be Robbie. The atmosphere amongst the audience was like as if a volcano was about to erupt, or some other natural phenomenon. Then huge flames of some 6 meters high spitted out of the stage, of which the heat could be felt at some distance. Amidst huge smoke geysers, Robbie popped out of the stage like a devil in a box. The music erupted. Wearing sunglasses, his famous black coat and some orange ornaments (the colour of the Dutch football team), Robbie started to sing 'Radio'. The first 5 seconds the music was very loud, but then things got better synced and a fantastic show started. The songs were sung very well, and apart from one false guitar stroke the whole performance was superb. However Idols jury member and 'music-expert' HenkJan Smits, who also apparently visited the concert this evening had a different opinion and found Robbie's singing 'more out of tune than some idols-candidates'. Robbie looked great and seemed to be in his element. He wore the orange flag with the black Lion of the Dutch footie team, and at some point devoured an orange 'Wuppie' (furry puppet, WK attribute) he got from someone in the audience. After a close inspection of Robbie's dental condition the Wuppie somehow managed to escape, after which Robbie continued with the show. Jonathan Wilkes appeared as special guest and the two friends performed their act with the song 'Me And My Shadow'. A match was done as to who could kick the ball the furthest in the audience. The two friends both gave it their very best and afterwards decided to call it a draw and get on with the show. The song 'Back For Good' was sung relaxed sitting with a cigarette on a crutch. 'Strong' was done karaoke style, with Robbie encouraging the audience to sing along. He did another Houdini disappear act, changed into some other clothes and did an encore stunt with an elevator coming down, singing 'Let Me Entertain You' amidst fireworks. 'Angels' was sung with the audience holding up lights and was over way too soon, with people realising the Close Encounter was about to end. Then it was finally over. Robbie and the band bowed. Robbie kneeled and thanked the audience in three directions, lifting his arms. He seemed reluctant to have to leave, hesitated but then he just had to go. The audience could not believe it: is he really gone???
The Netherlands will miss Robbie. Thanks for an unforgettable evening!!