{"id":315,"date":"2006-07-04T17:21:22","date_gmt":"2006-07-04T15:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/?p=315"},"modified":"2013-09-09T17:04:11","modified_gmt":"2013-09-09T15:04:11","slug":"come-on-entertain-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/?p=315","title":{"rendered":"Come on, entertain me!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robbie Williams – Gothenburg; July 1st 2006<\/strong><\/p>\n

It all started out Friday morning 3 a.m. with the alarm clock ringing. I had a train to catch\u00a0to get to Cologne airport for my 7:05 flight. Slight panic attack at the main train station\u00a0because my train was majorly late, but I did manage to get to the airport on time.\u00a0Check in was quick and I was ready to pass out from lack of sleep. Not a good start for\u00a0sure.<\/p>\n

At 9 I arrived in Gothenburg, but it took another hour or so to actually get to the city.\u00a0The walk from the main bus terminal to our hotel took my right past Ullevi stadium and\u00a0I could see the huge arms of the stage above the stadium and people walking and working on them.\u00a0It was a beautiful sight. Right at the bus terminal there was an underwear shop and in their window I found an ad that used many of Robbie’s song titles.\u00a0I later saw some more ads for the same underwear shop\u00a0downtown.<\/p>\n

After a brief stop at the hotel I went downtown to see a little bit of Gothenburg city.\u00a0Dropped by Robbie\u2019s hotel as well, but nobody was there. Later I picked up my Finnish friend H.\u00a0from the train station, back to our hotel again and back downtown. We walked to Ullevi\u00a0too and found people already queuing – the first ones had lined up at 8:30 that morning.\u00a0Security advised them to have a numbered line but they did not want to. When we went\u00a0home around 11 pm there were about 35 people camping in front of the stadium. We\u00a0still decided to get some sleep in hour hotel beds and come back the next morning.<\/p>\n

H. and I went back to the stadium at 7:00, arriving at 7:30 \u2013 there were around 50\u00a0people at each entrance at that time \u2013 not too bad. The weather was beautiful and we\u00a0settled down to wait. Two more friends joined us a bit after 8 and we all enjoyed\u00a0the sun.<\/p>\n

The security people were wonderful. They chatted with us, answered all our questions,\u00a0gave us water and made sure everyone was feeling OK. One of them even got another\u00a0girl to make a hat for one girl out of a newspaper. I can\u2019t stretch enough that they did one\u00a0hell of a job. At over 100 concerts in over 10 different countries I have never\u00a0encountered such nice and well organized local security people \u2013 they made the waiting\u00a0a lot easier to bear.<\/p>\n

Around noon a stag party turned up and the poor groom to be had to sing \u201cAngels\u201d to\u00a0us. He could not sing at all so what he did was very brave. We got a good laugh out of\u00a0that and as a reward for his troubles he had his picture taken with a group of the waiting\u00a0girls casting admiring looks his way for the camera.<\/p>\n

It was 2 p.m. I believe when suddenly people jumped up and it got a little crammed at\u00a0the gates. Some lucky ones were still able to sit down, but not all of us. \u201c2 hours later\u00a0they let us in through the first gate, where we had to line up and wait again. After that\u00a0there was one more gate and a turnstile. They told us there was no running into the\u00a0stadium and if anyone did run, they would close the pit.<\/p>\n

When they opened the gates to the turnstiles at 5, everyone was walking through one by\u00a0one. H. was first of us and I\u2019ve never seen anyone walk that fast before. She secured\u00a0us a great spot in front row on stage left. Unfortunately we lost the others inside.\u00a0We settled down again for more waiting \u2013 2 hours to go.<\/p>\n

7:00 p.m. , DJ Chris Coco started. He played nice music, but I was not much impressed.\u00a0Could have been worse though.\u00a08:00 p.m. it was time for Basement Jaxx. I had heard some of their songs before the\u00a0show and thought they were utter crap so I did not expect much. Boy was I surprised.\u00a0They put on a great show, very entertaining with colorful costumes and lots of action. I\u00a0really liked it and time flew buy.<\/p>\n

After they had left the stage and everything was set up for Robbie\u2019s entrance, I realized I\u00a0was actually front row at my first ever Robbie Williams concert \u2013 un-fucking-believable.\u00a0A happy grin appeared on my face that no-one could have wiped off if they tried.<\/p>\n

Finally at about 10:35 the people on the right side of the stadium started screaming like\u00a0hell \u2013 they must have been able to see backstage. The screens read \u201cCome with me\u201d\u00a0and then the house music was off and the band came out. Fireworks started and then blasts of fire came up from the stage sides \u2013 they were hot!<\/p>\n

We all turned to the platform at the end of the catwalk where Robbie came up out of the\u00a0floor to the first notes of ‘Radio’. Now that is a song I truly hate, but I found myself\u00a0singing along anyway and I was screaming like a teenage girl too. I knew then that it\u00a0was going to be a great concert. The platform was going round in a circle so we could\u00a0see Robbie from all sides.\u00a0He came along the catwalk to the main stage for ‘Rock DJ’. \u201cCan I kick it?\u201d he sang and\u00a0a choir of 60 000 answered \u201cYes you can!\u201d Everyone in the stadium was standing in their\u00a0seats, clapping, cheering and singing along. It was amazing.<\/p>\n

‘Tripping’ contained elements from ‘Don\u2019t worry’ and was sung very well. The choir and\u00a0Robbie sounded great and I really loved that version. He talked to us about England losing\u00a0to Portugal at football and how he was sad about that, then asked us to shout \u201cAMEN\u201d,\u00a0\u201cHALLELUJA\u201d and \u201cOH MY GOD\u201d if we had come to worship in the temple of football. He\u00a0also said we were the best crowd so far. \u201cI know you think I say that everywhere, but\u00a0you really are. Everyone has been singing along right from the first song.\u201d To prove his\u00a0point he launched into ‘Radio’ again: \u201cJumping, Thumping\u2026\u201d \u201cShout out something\u201d\u00a0came our reply. He tried that a couple of times and was happy with our response.<\/p>\n

Next song was ‘Monsoon’, one of my favorites. He screwed up the lyrics a bit, but who\u00a0cares? He was on the move on the catwalk again and I took some time to watch him on\u00a0the screen and actually take a look at the members of the band too. Then my eyes were\u00a0glued on Robbie again. At some point he lay down on the catwalk, staring directly into\u00a0everyone\u2019s cameras. He did that again later on the show asking \u201cdo you wanna take a\u00a0picture?\u201d and posing on the platform.<\/p>\n

‘Sin Sin Sin’ turned out to be another fantastic live song with lots of audience\u00a0participation. I think it was here that Robbie went off the stage and hugged some people in\u00a0the crowd. It was on our side of the stage and I kept watching out for him, but he got\u00a0back up on stage before he reached us. Made some people happy though. ‘Millennium’\u00a0followed and it was awesome to see everyone waving their hands.<\/p>\n

Robbie talked some more, telling us how he was proud to have sold out both nights at the\u00a0stadium, because except for him, only three\u00a0bands had done so: Bruce\u00a0Springsteen (I screamed ), Sting and the Rolling Stones.\u00a0He introduced the choir and had everyone to say something into the mik. The last lady\u00a0gave a very sexy \u201cuuuh\u201d. Robbie grabbed is crotch and remarked \u201cI\u2019ve just come\u201d, then\u00a0claimed to be needing a tissue. Very funny moment.<\/p>\n

He talked a lot all night, telling us to come over to his hotel and kick the paparazzi in the\u00a0nuts. ‘Make me pure’ was next. He sat in a swivel chair and kept turning around. I grinned\u00a0when I noticed he did not remember the lyrics. Again the choir did a fantastic job.<\/p>\n

He went off to the stage side where Josie helped him change his jacket. The he\u00a0introduced his \u201cbestest mate\u201d Jonny Wilkes. They bantered on a bit about the great\u00a0audience in Gothenburg. Robbie said \u201cI understand it now. You see in England, the crowds\u00a0are better up North. In London they are OK, but they are not like great. In Stockholm\u00a0(he made a depreciating gesture here). Now Gothenburg\u2026 (he indicated all of us and we\u00a0replied with a great cheer).\u00a0Jonny went on about having watched him and remarked that\u00a0he was only giving about 85% entertainment. \u201cBullocks!\u201d Robbie replied. J:\u201cHonestly\u201d\u00a0R:\u201cFuck yourself!\u201d J:\u201cHey, I\u2019m your best mate, I can tell you this. 85, 86% maybe.\u201d\u00a0R:\u201cCan you bring the rest then.\u201d J: \u201cI reckon I have to bring that extra 14%.\u201d R: \u201cLet\u2019s\u00a0do it.\u201dA fantastic ‘Me and my Shadow’ followed. I have loved that song from the first time I\u00a0saw it on the Swing show DVD and was happy to get to hear it live. They did a wonderful job\u00a0too.<\/p>\n

Afterwards Robbie told us about their Football competition. It was all about who could shoot\u00a0the ball furthest into the audience and so far, Jonny had won. He really rubbed the 4:0\u00a0score in too. Jerry brought the balls out to the platform where Robbie and Jonny where\u00a0waiting and checked them too after Robbie demanded it. The other balls got checked as\u00a0well to much laughter from the audience. Both took of the jackets and shot. I thought\u00a0Jonny did better but the rest of the audience decided Robbie had won. The next the competition involved the audience. They split us in two group to see which side\u00a0would sing better or rather who could get his side to sing a response louder and better.\u00a0Jonny had our side and tried hard, but Robbie won again. He was grinning happily too. ‘Strong’ followed, then Jonny left the stage.<\/p>\n

‘Back for good’ was next, but first Robbie was chatting with the crowd again, asking if we\u00a0remembered that. A girl in the front replied to his question if anyone had been to their\u00a0gig in Gothenburg. He looked at her for some time, the said \u201cBut you can\u2019t be older than\u00a018 now. I left Take That in 97, so you were about 3 at hat gig.\u201d She replied, a bit\u00a0offended. \u201cI\u2019m 24!\u201d \u201cSo you were about 12 then. Did you go to a concert when you were\u00a012 years old?\u201d She nodded. \u201cAnd you\u2019ve been following me ever since?\u201d She nodded\u00a0again and when he asked her who her favorite was and she said “you” he smiled rather\u00a0cheesily, but looked very pleased. He offered her to come to the hotel, suggesting they\u00a0have sex so he could give something back to her. \u201cThat\u2019s the least I could do.\u201d\u00a0I don\u2019t remember much about ‘Advertising Space’ or ‘A Place to Crash’ other than that\u00a0I enjoyed both songs.<\/p>\n

At some point Robbie went off the stage to kiss a girl who had \u201cKiss you\u201d written on her\u00a0chest. He told her she was a great kisser and remarked that she stuck her tongue in \u201cand\u00a0then I stuck in mine. That was really nice.\u201d Her dad should be proud of her Robbie said and\u00a0that he\u2019d come down again to kiss her friend too. He never did though.<\/p>\n

The first notes of ‘Come undone’ had the entire audience singing again and he liked\u00a0that. He sat on the steps for much of the song, drinking a bit while we sang. ‘Feel’ was\u00a0a wonderful closer and Robbie disappeared into the floor of the platform. David Enthoven (the manager) was taking pictures of Robbie the entire time, standing right next to me.\u00a0The encores started with more fireblasts and David remarked how hot it was. You can\u00a0say that again!<\/p>\n

To the sounds of ‘Let me entertain you!’ Robbie was lowered to the stage from one of the\u00a0stage \u2018arms\u2019. He was wearing a white tracksuit (which really screwed p my pictures\u00a0because it was so light ). I was happy to hear \u201cLet me entertain you\u201d finally and\u00a0bounced a lot. \u00a0‘Angels’was as emotional and beautiful as I had hoped it would be. Really nice,\u00a0fantastic response from the crowd.<\/p>\n

Everyone bowed and Jonny pretended wanting to drag Robbie off stage, but he insisted on\u00a0one more. \u201cYou\u2019ll be Kylie Minogue and I\u2019ll be Robbie Williams.\u201d He then launched into\u00a0‘Kids’, doing a sexy dance with the choir. He rubbed up against the ladies and\u00a0pretended to give the guy a blow job. Another funny moment. One last thank you and\u00a0they were gone.<\/p>\n

I was completely blown away and enjoyed every minute of the show. WOW! It was all\u00a0worth it and I was already looking forward to the next show as we slowly walked out of\u00a0the stadium and made our way back to our hotel.<\/p>\n

The night did not end for us right there. We decided we could not sleep anyway and\u00a0went back downtown to check out the Elite Plaza, where Robbie and the band were staying. There were surprisingly few people, so\u00a0we guessed we might have missed Robbie already. We hung out for a bit, but nothing\u00a0happened and there was noone in sight. Thus, we went back to our hotel and finally to\u00a0sleep.<\/p>\n

The second Gothenburg concert<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robbie Williams – Gothenburg; July 1st 2006 It all started out Friday morning 3 a.m. with the alarm clock ringing. I had a train to catch\u00a0to get to Cologne airport for my 7:05 flight. Slight panic attack at the main … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[13,19,65,34,16,14],"class_list":["post-315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-concert","tag-fan","tag-friends","tag-gothenburg","tag-robbie-williams","tag-sweden","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3574,"href":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/3574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/passioncolorseverything.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}