11 years ago I saw him for the first time in Bern Stade de Suisse aka Wankdorf. It was also one of my first concerts ever and still one of the best. I remember the day and almost every minute of the concert. So I was super excited to see him again and I knew it will be good.
Erasure opened up and it was good dancy music. They were the perfect supporting act and they tried to speak German which was just the cutest! Finally at around 8 the heaven cleared and the sun came out. Luckily for the people down standing it stayed dry. Eminem’s “Loose Yourself” announced the start of the show and if we speak in boxing terms it was Robbie’s entrance music. Then we were asked to stand for the Robbie Williams anthem! Absolutely hilarious!! 🙂 With “Welcome to the Heavy Entertainment Show” he literally welcomed us to the show and as always he said:
ZURICH! I AM ROBBIE FUCKING WILLIAMS AND YOU ARE MINE TONIGHT!
Fireworks and confetti included we were well entertained already after just one song but off we went with “Let Me Entertain You”. Other artists finish like Robbie starts. Incredible. As always the third song was “Monsoon” and of course we put our hands across the water! 🙂 For people who have never been to his concert we were waving our hands from left to right. Robbie added huge fire balls to his repertoire of entertainment which fitted perfectly to “Party like a Russian”!
Let’s swing! A few years ago Mr. Williams showed he still had some swing in him and went on tour with his swing album. Tonight we only got “Minnie The Moocher”. Then we went even further back to his first solo single “Freedom” in 1996. (Yes, I was only 5 years old but I do know the lyrics :-)) He said that he wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t met one of the best musicians that ever lived. So he dedicated the cover to the late great George Michael.
Robbie became a daddy during the past few years little Teddy and little Charlie who are his life. So he really loves his life right now. He mounted a huge boxing glove and floated above the first rows and sang “Love My Life”. I was jumping up and down since I just bought the “Love My Life” jumper he designed for Marc’O’Polo and yes I obviously worn it to the concert. One of my favourite songs is “Come Undone” which he sang next and as always he asked us:
Switzerland, Am I still your Son?
“Yes, You are still our Son, Robbie!!”
During the last part of the song he remixed in Take That’s “Never Forget” and there you saw the difference between people in the audience. Us Take That/Robbie Fans knew what to do. Pretty easy put two hands up in the air but you obviously have to know when 😉 Another oldie “Millennium” was next and again we put our hands up waving! But hold on Robbie told us to put the hands back down so we’ll have some energy left for the chorus to put’em back up! So funny. He’s like a conductor with a 45’000 people orchestra.
For one of his most romantic songs “Something Stupid” he brought a woman on stage with “Big Presents” but who didn’t know one of his songs. So I guess he didn’t feel bad when everyone laughed at her. Robbie and her sat down on a bench – super romantic – but then she had to wear a mask and someone was speaking for her. This has to be the funniest moment at a concert! This voice kept saying “I luv u” and “Kiss me, Robbie, kiss me!”
Even if critics thinks he cannot rap he did it anyway and “Rudebox” became one of my fav songs. “A – d- i – d – a -s – Old school ‘cos it’s the best, yes -TK Maxx cost less, yes” Love it 🙂 Last time he got Olly Murs on stage to sing his duet with Kylie Minogue and it was one of the highlights of the show. This time he sang “Kids” with a talented back ground singer. And the highlight of the gig followed this song.
Robbie brought out his Dad Peter to sing with him! He always mentioned that he learned his craft from his old man and that he wanted to show us. So together they sang “Sweet Caroline – oh oh oh”. What a beautiful scene. Dad and son on a sofa in the middle of 45k people! I think his Dad enjoyed it as much as his son and we did. When he started “Feel” I knew the concert was nearly finished but I really didn’t want it to end. Everyone sang along to this huge hit. Robbie asked us now:
Can I kick it?
Yes, you can!
So “Rock DJ” was next! And we all got those disco moves out only to see him leave the stage with a bang. Thankfully he returned after a few seconds only to start the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”. Rob’s no Ryan Tedder so we kept singing the “dodododododo” and not the actual lyrics. For his encore Robbie chose three ballads. After “She’s the One” when the first chords of “Angels” started we knew that this was time to say Goodbye. Everyone’s light went up and was swaying to the rhythm. We didn’t want it to end so the crowd kept singing.
It felt like Robbie didn’t want to leave either so he just sang a medley of his biggest hits without instruments just with us singing along. It did seem that he trained his voice well this time since he sang through 90 minutes. Last time he talked waay more and it was more of a comedy show than a concert which I liked too. It was absolutely hilarious and I nearly had tears of laughter in my eyes. So this time I was surprised that he sang through all the songs.
With Guy Chambers on the keys he finished this wonderful concert with “My Way”. After thunderous fireworks Robbie Williams drove off in a black car into the night and left almost 50’000 people happy. The concert was finished and the soundtrack of Dirty Dancing was blasting from the stadium speakers. Something I’ve never seen before happened. People started to sing and dance one last time and it felt like it was part of the show since the lyrics were perfect for this evening:
Now I’ve had the time of my life
No I never felt like this before
Yes I swear it’s the truth
and I owe it all to you
Thank you Robbie!
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