Robbie Williams in concert, Geneva Arena 27/10/2003



I've been looking forward for this concert since ages. When the tickets came out I was frantically looking around as they were sold out within hours. Luckily my perseverance helped and I managed to get some tickets that same morning. The reason I want to see Robbie is because I think he's one of the best entertainers out there. And he didn't disappoint me during his concert last night.

Skin opened up the concert. After Skunk Anansie broke up, she went solo. The songs are more emotional although the music is mush or less the same. She's an amazing singer and likes to please the crowd as well. But we all came to see Robbie, so let's just move on shall we?

Being the real entertainer, Robbie started his show with Let Me Entertain You. It's the best song an entertainer can start a show with. My friend thinks that Robbie wrote that song just so that he can open concerts with a big bang. She could be right. Wearing black trousers and a black shirt with the words "PussyMaster" (very appropriate, innit?) on it, Robbie was channeling his energy through the audience. The whole of Geneva Arena (about 5000 people, packed like sardines) started jumping up and down, following Robbie's lead.

He then went through his repertoire, including Let Love Be Your Energy and We Will Rock You/Monsoon. The band was in full effect, and the 4 dancers (who were very very fit and looked as if they were handpicked by Robbie from the best strip club in the world) added much spice to the show, especially for the guys. During Strong, the screens on the side turned into a karaoke screen with all the words. During the guitar solo, it even said "(Air Guitar)". So when Robbie asked the audience to sing along, nobody can claim "er, don't know the words."

On Come Undone he took a girl from the audience, hugged her, kissed her, and even went down on his knees to sing his song to her. This girl took her chance as well, as she was grabbing Robbie's ass, but who wouldn't? Any girl in that audience would love to be her. And here is Robbie's appeal. He has so much confidence that he can do whatever he wants, and the girls will still be attracted to him. That's every guy's dream.

In the middle he took it easy and went to do his Vegas act by singing Mr. Bojangles. A grand piano in the middle, Robbie with a cigarette and a cocktail on a bar stool. After this song, he looked for "couples in love" in the crowd. And guess what, after a bit of fun-poking, he made the guy propose to his girl right there. In a Robbie Williams concert. Couldn't be any more romantic now could it?

That just sums up what Robbie is all about. He knows that he's an entertainer and he knows that the entertainment business is fake. So this boy from Stoke-on-Trent pushed the fakeness until he becomes real. This is a guy who grew up as an entertainer in Take That. He's the one who sang Freedom after he quit Take That, more a statement than just a song. He's the one who challenged Liam Gallagher to a boxing match. He's the one who sings "Is this real cause I feel fake" and "I'm here to make money and get laid. Yeah I'm a star but I'll fade" because he knows exactly what he is. And that's why he is such a great entertainer.

Before playing Kids, he said "I originally did it with Kylie. And then we wrote this song afterwards". Too bad the Swiss people didn't get the joke, but I was laughing. So he did do Kylie. Damn, I envy him more! He played guitar and singed Better Man, but made a couple of mistakes (he went to the wrong chord). Instead of blaming someting else, he just said that he's a bad guitar player and that it was a really bad performance. Honesty is not what you expect from a person in his shoes.

Feel became the singalong song as most of the audience knew the words to it. He did the usual "thank you and goodbye" before coming up with an encore. Before the last song, he introduced it by saying "this is the song that made everything happen for me" and then commenced with Angels. It's the perfect anthem, the perfect singalong song, the perfect song to close a big concert. Even though he is an entertainer, he still show lots of emotions during songs like Angels, which sets him apart from normal entertainers.

One thing I learned from Robbie is that if you are confident enough, you can conquer the world. Except America.