Robbie Williams – Cologne; August 8th 2006

My best friend B. and I had traveled to Cologne the night before the concert to be able to line up early. Tuesday morning we made our way to the stadium without breakfast, met with friends and were just discussing whether we should stay at the entrance they had line up at when suddenly everyone jumped up and ran across the road that separated us from the entrance to the Jahnwiesen. Somehow they had opened the gates much earlier than planned and it was all a big jumble of people and lots of squishing. I felt so sorry for those people who had stayed overnight and could not get out of their sleeping bags fast enough. For us it was a big improvement and after some fussing of the security guards we sat quite comfortable on the grass in front of the real entrance.

Around 10:30 a.m. they passed out wristbands for the pit (1st wave) and again there was a shift to the front. Sitting got uncomfortable soon so everyone was standing. There was a few meters of space to the gates and we had a line of security guards in front of us who told us they would now take away the fences in front of the gates, but not let us in yet. We told them to get a megaphone and tell the people in the back but they would not listen so the inevitable happened: the first fence was removed and the masses started pushing from the back so all we could do was move forward until the first people in line were squished against the gates.

A while later they finally let us in. We decided running was not much use and walked

most of the distance. Rather than getting into the crowd we chose a spot in front row on the far right below the video screen. Now we could finally sit down, relax and wait for the show to start.

Orson came on stage at 6:30 p.m. and played a good set. I would not necessarily listen to them at home, but we enjoyed it. At 7:30 p.m. time came for Basement Jaxx and they were rocking as ever. We both loved it. Meanwhile the pit had filled with more people, but we could still sit down and relax.

Finally, about a quarter to 9 we go up and waited impatiently for the show to start.

Despite being far on the side we could still see Robbie quite well and at times we did not, we had the screen right in front of us. He was on fire that night and he looked just incredible. Mostly he stayed on the catwalk, only came out to the side once. When he was directly in front of us a girl behind me kept pushing to the front, screaming “Robbie” into my ear – as a result, all my pictures are out of focus.

The show was fantastic and Robbie seemed to be in a great mood. I cannot remember much of what he said that night, but he told us we were the best audience in Germany so far and even bowed go us in the end. He also told us he was enjoying the show and this time I believed him. I remember at one point B. and I just looked at each other and shook our heads in unison, but I cannot remember what it was – it might have been when he read a sign saying “Amaze me” and he said “You want me to amaze you?” pretending to get out his cock. Might have been something else as well. He also told us how it had rained in Munich and all he wanted to do was stop singing. It looked very funny when he showed us how he had sung Angels with clenched teeth. Luckily the weather stayed good.

Robbie smiled so much that night. Looking incredibly handsome and happy. At one point he jumped off stage, kissed a girl who held a sign saying “You’re fucking brilliant!”, grabbed the sign and held it up for the camera grinning happily. He also grabbed a German flag from the audience and sang holding it for a while. Before “Back for good” he talked to a girl wearing a bikini top styled like the British flag, asking her if she was from England. When she answered “Holland” the audience booed. He asked he for her age and when she said 18 someone yelled “too old” which made me crack up laughing. She found him a little too old, but he still suggested she could come with him so she’d safely get out of the stadium. Of course this was before she said her favorite in Take That had been Gary. “Fuck off!” Robbie told her, “good luck getting home.”

There were many other funny moments that I cannot recall at the moment. All I know is that we both enjoyed the concert. A magical night!

Setlist

Radio
Rock DJ
Tripping
Monsoon
Sin Sin Sin
Millennium
Make Me Pure
Me and My Shadow
Strong
Back for Good (Take That cover)
Advertising Space
Come Undone (outro: Take a Walk on The Wild Side)
Feel

Encore:
Let Me Entertain You
Rudebox
Angels
Kids