Robbie Williams

The whole point of the show lies in the name chosen for the tour: "Let Me Entertain You". Which also happens to be the title of a famous track (the one that opens tonight's concert, after the "O Fortuna" intro) as well as the best way to explain that the goal here is simply to entertain the crowd for an hour and a half.

Mission perfectly accomplished: Robbie Williams, the former boy-band member of the most beloved group of the last twenty-five years (though heaven forbid you bring that up - actually, Rob jokes about it himself, recalling how at a certain point he preferred to turn to drugs, only to shortly after make successful solo records and become a millionaire...) does everything right, embodying many of the personas that have helped make his career great.

There's the slightly cocky popstar, the crooner who dives into swing revival, the music lover who knows how to move the crowd, the rockstar who asks the band to push harder on the guitars, the fashion-obsessed hip-hop enthusiast, but above all, tonight it's the affable showman who emerges, constantly trading jokes with the audience, speaking perfectly understandable English, making the effort to be understood that, sadly, few foreign musicians bother to make.

The show is a brightly coloured jukebox, packed with references scattered all over the place, tributes to the songs that shaped Robbie's musical growth: the first song he learned to sing as a child with his dad (Cab Calloway's "Minnie The Moocher"), U2's "The Joshua Tree" ("I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is quoted at the end of "Come Undone"), a heartfelt tribute to Freddie Mercury (Queen are covered not once but twice, first with "We Will Rock You", then with a spine-tingling "Bohemian Rhapsody"), the hard rock of Led Zeppelin ("Whole Lotta Love" serves as the opener for "Kids"), the evergreen pop of friends Oasis ("Wonderwall", and, as it happens, Noel Gallagher will be on this very stage in two days' time), the little interlude of "Seven Nation Army", complete with a dedication to Italy, then World Cup champions.

But the show still revolves around Williams's own songs: with no new album to promote, he puts together a genuine greatest hits live, ranging from the open-air disco of "Supreme" to the languor of "She's The One", from the divertissement of "Candy" - complete with a bikini-clad fan invited on stage to share a virtual bed with Robbie - to the youthful energy of "Rock DJ", all the way to his acknowledged masterpieces, the superclassics "Feel" and "Angels", saved for the close, acting as a prelude to the grand finale, starring the immortal "My Way", sung with the band already back in the backstage area.

Williams (sporting a blond mohawk and a kilt in the second half of the show) confirms himself, beyond being a great entertainer and acknowledged sex symbol, as a capable and versatile singer, able to range across different genres, even if on this celebratory tour it's the pop-rock side that takes over.

The musicians backing him are always up to the task, and of course never overshadow the star of the show, in a performance that received a response from the crowd worthy of the biggest occasions.

Today Robbie Williams, with 80 million records sold under his belt (with eleven albums and nine singles reaching the very top of the British charts, and beyond), is a world-class superstar who shows no signs of fading and has reached a level of popularity that few other artists in the world can match.

What he continues to represent, even though his best records now date back more than ten years, is the state of the art of a certain kind of shrewd but always well-crafted mainstream pop. And writing great songs capable of pleasing everyone is a secret recipe that very few people in the world know as well as he does.

Ride the wave of great music

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