Robbie Williams at Emirates Stadium: 'a grand scale This Is Your Life'
If the latter was probably one odd step too far, then the rest of it felt like a grand scale This Is Your Life, helmed by a figure the entire stadium had grown up with. He brought Lulu out for a rendition of Take That duet Relight My Fire, surrounded himself with gold dancers for the once-timely Millenium, and serenaded a fan for She's The One. Across two hours, Williams spent approximately half the time chatting to the crowd, bringing up photos of his wife and kids, talking about a family member with dementia, and frequently referencing old moments across his storied career. On paper, it makes no sense as a stadium show; having earned, over 30 years, the sheer force of good will coming at him from the Emirates crowd, somehow it worked.
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Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Five surprise Robbie Williams fans with first live performance in 25 years
Former Take That member Robbie Williams is currently travelling around the country as he treats super fans to UK BRITPOP stadium tour Five have surprised Robbie Williams fans at a London concert with their first live performance in 25 years. Concert-goers were sent into a frenzy when the multi-platinum selling band joined Robbie on stage during his performance. Robbie is currently on his huge BRITPOP stadium tour and Five's appearance is their first performance with all five members together for more than two decades. The band's iconic 1999 chart-topping song Keep On Moving played through the stadium while Robbie admitted that he didn't know all of the words of the second verse and asked the audience to join in to help which is when the band appeared. Abz Love, J Brown, Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson and Sean Conlon all walked out on stage before singing along to their song. This is also the first time Five and Robbie have performed together. Talking about the opportunity, Five said: "Wow, what an honour to be asked by Robbie Williams to join him on stage at his London stadium show. Rob has been such a big supporter of ours, from the early days through to the comeback, so when he reached out to ask whether we'd come out on stage for his performance of Keep On Movin', it was the EASIEST yes. "To get to share that moment with Robbie in front of 60k people was crazy… definitely a version of Keep On Movin' we'll never forget." The surprise performance comes ahead of Five's 25-date KEEP ON MOVIN' Tour, which will kick off this October. This comes after Robbie recently opened up about her deals with anxiety when he is recognised by fans. The star, 51, said how interactions with fans can "spike" the issue in a heartfelt post on Instagram. He described a recent incident on board a flight in America saying: "I've had three interactions so far with fellow passengers. One of them handed my a lovely note - kind words about my documentary - and then asked for a photo." Robbie said he sent another note back explaining that he had "been up since 4.30am, had two hours' sleep, and wrangled four kids through the airport". He also confessed to dealing with anxiety before saying anybody approaching him for a photo would cause it to "spike" due to the further attention it would cause. However, he said he hadn't rejected the request, but instead tried to explain how many people had a photo with him, but no-one had the same handwritten note. Robbie revealed how it's a daily situation for him, with strangers approaching him on average 20 times a day to take a photo. But he then argued that there are some situations that he doesn't want to capture and there should be scenarios in which he can reject a request. "I was on the phone to my wife the other day - she was in flood of tears about her mum. Is it okay for me to say no to a photo request then?," he asked. "What if I'm having a challenging mental health day - is it okay if I don't want that captured by a stranger?" He finished off his post by saying he needed to get that off his chest and it was "not a moan". Fans and celeb friends such as Paris Hilton, Amanda Holden and Kris Jenner all left messages saying they understood the difficult situation.
Evening Standard
5 hours ago
- Evening Standard
Robbie Williams at Emirates Stadium: 'a grand scale This Is Your Life'
If the latter was probably one odd step too far, then the rest of it felt like a grand scale This Is Your Life, helmed by a figure the entire stadium had grown up with. He brought Lulu out for a rendition of Take That duet Relight My Fire, surrounded himself with gold dancers for the once-timely Millenium, and serenaded a fan for She's The One. Across two hours, Williams spent approximately half the time chatting to the crowd, bringing up photos of his wife and kids, talking about a family member with dementia, and frequently referencing old moments across his storied career. On paper, it makes no sense as a stadium show; having earned, over 30 years, the sheer force of good will coming at him from the Emirates crowd, somehow it worked.
Metro
9 hours ago
- Metro
I thought Robbie Williams was overhyped but can still kick it
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video I don't think I truly understood the hype around Robbie Williams until I saw him live in concert. In one night, I've gone from a non-believer to a full-blown fan after decades of thinking he was just that guy who had a few hits in the 90s. My conversion began with Better Man, which is one of the best biopics made in recent years, but until his London gig, I still saw him as an artist of the past. As if he could tell what I was thinking, Robbie instantly proved me wrong by opening his two-hour set with his brand new song, Rocket. Very few artists could release a track and have the entirety of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium singing along two weeks later — let alone make it their opening number. But that's the power of Robbie. From Rock DJ to Angels, he is (as he so delicately puts it) 's**tting hits'. And they were all packed into his Britpop Tour show. Rocket turned out to be the perfect opener, with the 51-year-old star performing some aerial acrobatics to let us all know he planned to put on a show. This quickly gave way to Let Me Entertain You, a song that set the tone for not only this gig, but his entire career — this is what he was born to do. I had anticipated a good set list — of course, there's going to be hits, it's Robbie Williams after all. However, there was so much more to the show than big songs. Ever the perfect showman, Robbie effortlessly toes the line between his ego and self-deprecating jokes, oozing charisma and charm that make it hard not to like him. Jokes about his age, his wild past, and even some stray barbs at Oasis filled the moments between the songs without dropping the palpable energy in the room. One particularly joyous moment was when he brought opening act Lottery Winners' singer Thom Rylance back on stage for a surprise song set. Here, fans were tested by the comedic duo, singing along to fragments of tracks like Candy before the legendary Lulu joined them for a rendition of Take That's Relight My Fire. Take That wasn't the only 90s band's fire which Robbie relit either, as midway through singing Keep On Movin' he brought out the whole of Five. For the first time in 25 years, Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson, Abz Love, and Jason Brown were all on stage together, basking in the screams of the shocked audience. These moments prove Robbie knows exactly who his audience is and exactly what they want: personality and nostalgia. This made it all the more jarring when things didn't quite land, such as when the gig became bogged down in clunky AI-generated filler where the Come Undone hitmaker 'spoke' to his younger and older self. I'm not a fan of generative AI at the best of times, but there's something deeply awkward about watching someone — no matter how charming — 'talk' to a pre-made computer-generated approximation of themselves. While the moments produced a handful of cheap laughs, the inclusion of these cringey videos felt incredibly disjointed from the very personable, real-life Robbie on stage. The AI was thankfully a small misstep, which was quickly moved past in the sheer onslaught of undeniable bangers. She's The One, Kids, Strong, and Feel all sparked dancing and cheering from the audience, most of whom seemed to know every single word. Finally, after an impressive two hours of dancing and singing, the boyband legend finished on Angels — because what else could it be. More Trending It is simply the perfect closing song. Even among his many (many) hits, Angels remains untouchable. Ultimately, you're never going to get a bad show with Robbie. He's a born performer, despite what they thought of his solo potential in the 90s. After 35 years in the spotlight and 22 since his iconic Knebworth shows, the living legend that is Robbie Williams very much proved he can still kick it. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: 'Devastated' Rod Stewart, 80, cancels more concerts weeks before Glastonbury due to sickness MORE: What I Own: At 22 and 23, we bought a run down London four-bed for £910,000 MORE: Major US fast food chain to open in London Heathrow airport – a European first
