#Calabash2025: Robbie Williams - a Better Man - and a changed woman
While the other girls all knew the names and stats of each band member - I wouldn't have been able to pick Robbie Williams out of a police lineup.
It's not that I didn't enjoy their odd hit single - I have Back for Good on an old radio-copied mix tape somewhere - but I certainly was never going to spend my hard-earned birthday money on their albums.
In their defence, it wasn't just them. A few years later, while my peers were fawning over the Backstreet Boys and Nsync - I was rocking or raving to Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Milk Inc and DJ Quicksilver, among others.
But I digress…
Present day
When Robbie Williams joined the Calabash lineup for night one - my taller half expressed interest in going because, having seen him in concert many years ago, enthused that Williams "is the ultimate showman".
But if I wasn't prepared to face the traffic and seething masses for the likes of Offspring and Green Day - whose albums were anthems from my early teen years - I sure wasn't prepared to face that logistical nightmare for Robbie.
So when one of my best friends phoned me at 5.30pm yesterday, saying she'd been given tickets to see Robbie Williams and asked if I wanted to go - my earlier words echoed back to me and I parked on the fence for a few minutes before my SO said, "Just go. It'll be fun. Let him entertain you."
So I did.
Meanwhile, back at the stadium
Heading into town, we noted the warnings of closed roads around the DHL Stadium and parked in a side street near the Waterfront. The short walk to the stadium was cordoned off, with police directing and minding the safety of pedestrians.
We gratefully skipped past the long snaking queue to the general standing area, found the entry for the seated blocks and breezed through security. Grabbing a hot dog, a cool drink and a beer from the various vendors outside was equally quick and easy, while a DJ entertained the beer garden crowd.
The volume of cheers from the stadium was filtering through from inside, so we made our way into the stadium to find our seats, and were met with a lively set from Goodluck. Given that Juliet Harding gave birth to a new band member - er, baby - little over six months ago - her energy levels were truly awe-inspiring.
Class act
Shortly after 9pm, to a backing track chanting, "Are you ready Cape Town?", Robbie Williams and his team took to the stage - officially opening with a fanfare of lights and Let Me Entertain You!
And that he did!
Let me just say, dressed in a white vest, loose-fitting white trousers, and a broad white (chastity) belt (that was probably more for his safety from grabby Golden Circle hands) - the man was looking fiiine. However, he went on to confess he was suffering from flu and swore his streaming left nostril was illness-related and not a throwback to his '90s bad habits.
Musical numbers aside, what I came to realise over the course of the evening is that which makes Williams so entertaining: his engaging stage presence, charm, and connection with the crowd, as he cracked jokes at his own expense and passed witty asides.
Journey to becoming a Better Man
During the first half of his act, he took us on a journey through the rise, fall and recovery of his 35-year-musical career - touching on covers of Land of 1000 Dances and Hit the Road Jack before circling back to his own music.
Testing out the crowd, he played a round of 'complete the verse' - singing a line and letting us finish it. His hit songs had obviously filtered in as I did, in fact, know (most) of the words.
Throughout the show, he poked fun at his own egotistical ways, flashing his bright white smile and joking that he and one of the audience members had got their teeth at the same place. He chatted candidly with the crowd and introduced himself (and the rest of us) to Bill Hill and his wife, who were standing at the front row fence.
He led us through Strong and Come Undone – the cutting and self-reflective lyrics of the latter contrasted with amusement as the most explicit lines were featured in all their glory on the screen for us to follow.
He played Take That's first music video - pausing the video on his bare @ss to sadly lament that it doesn't look like that anymore. I, meanwhile, was a bit sad that my view of said @ss was obscured by a great big speaker.
He touched on the point when he was ousted from Take That and his solo comeback, which included playing at Glastonbury where he hung out with those other boys from Manchester - which he punctuated with a cover of Don't Look Back in Anger.
While still making fun of the fact he was also there to promote his most egomaniacal feat - a movie about him, written by him, music by him and obviously starring him - he took the opportunity to show us the trailer from the newly released Better Man (as well as singing us the title track).
Having not heard of the film, I was amused and intrigued to see Williams portrayed in all his simian glory, and helping actor Jonno Davies put a singing voice to a CGI chimpanzee.
Having come full circle on that part of his life with a rendition of Back For Good - he launched back into a collection of his own work, which included Millennium and his Kids collaboration with Kylie Minogue - this time accompanied by one of his back-up singers.
Flashbacks, fan girls and all the feels
After getting fondled by some Golden Circlers during a circuit with the fence audience (that belt was earning its keep), he lobbed some branded T-shirts into the crowd - and was met with a 'flash'-back to the '90s as one fan gave him an eyeful of her headlights. She, of course, was rewarded with a T-shirt.
He closed off his rousing main set with Rock DJ - giving a roaring performance despite having admitted a few times over the course of the show that he was feeling 'f%cked' as the effects of the flu took its toll.
Returning to the stage in a glittering red zip-up after a short break, he wound us down with No Regrets and Feel before heading to the crowd again to find a special lady to sing to.
While cruising the frontline, he was handed a T-shirt from a fan with the words "Let Cape Town entertain you" emblazoned on it. After laughingly thanking them for it before confirming that no, they couldn't have his sweatshirt as they tried unzipping it, he selected 'Mel' to be 'the one'.
Needless to say, Mel melted into a puddle - at one point literally as she slid off the barrier and out of view - as Robbie serenaded her. And who could blame her?
In pure Williams humour, he followed up this touching moment with a confession that as he sat down to sing to She's the One - he'd sat down on one of his 'bollocks'.
Finally wrapping with Angels and one last round of 'complete the verse', he thanked his band, dancers and stage team, as well as all of us for being 'f%cking amazing'.
But honestly - he was f%cking amazing. And he's earned a new fan who’ll certainly brave the unbearable traffic and heaving masses to see him again.
So, as a changed woman, I'll encourage anyone to go and see Robbie the showman; Robbie the better man. Let him entertain you - you won't regret it.
PS: Huge shout out to the slick production crew and lighting experts - loved the light show; as well as the event organisers for making the logistics a largely painless affair. Thank you!
