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ROBBIE WILLIAMS
+ Gaz Coombes + Lufthaus
@ A Day On The Green,
Nikola Estate, WA
30th November 2023
(Live Review)

Review  and photos by Adrian Thomson (@_awii_)

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ROBBIE WILLIAMS, A Day On The Green, Nikola Estate, 30/11/2023 / Photo – @_awii_

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The Robbie Williams’ XXV tour touched down in Perth for the first of two nights of sold out shows amongst the picturesque grape vines of the Nikola Estate winery in the heart of the West Australian Swan Valley.  The tour celebrates Williams’ 25 years as a solo recording artist, with a few nods to his formative years as a member of 90’s boy band Take That.

The pulsating electronic beats of Lufthaus welcomed the earlier revellers into the venue.  Lufthaus is an electronic side project of Williams’ electronic side project Lufthaus.  A trio in the studio with Williams’ taking vocal duties, tonight Tim Metcalfe and Flynn Francis were performing, understandably, as a duo.  A remix to the Eurythmic classic ‘Sweet Dreams’ provided the first of many sing-a-longs for the evening.

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LUFTHAUS, A Day On The Green, Nikola Estate, 30/11/2023 / Photo – @_awii_

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GAZ COOMBES, A Day On The Green, Nikola Estate, 30/11/2023 / Photo – @_awii_

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With an unassuming “how you doing, Perth” Gaz Coombes and band took to the stage as the sun began to set over the vineyards.  Coombes is a musical legend in his own right, best known for fronting the trailblazing 90’s alt-rock band Supergrass.  With 4 wonderful solo albums now under his belt, Coombes’ set was a glorious combination of his new more subdued solo works and the youthful vibrancy of a few earlier Supergrass hits.

“Boy boy boy girl girl girl clap your hands, Clap your hands if you wanna wanna” as the cuboid screens lifted to reveal a silhouetted Robbie Williams standing center stage.  The high energy of ‘Hey Wow Yeah Yeah’ led into the iconic anthem of ‘Let Me Entertain You’ – a bombastic mission statement for the evening, and Williams’ career as a whole.

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ROBBIE WILLIAMS, A Day On The Green, Nikola Estate, 30/11/2023 / Photo – @_awii_

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Williams selected an unexpecting couple in the front row – Michael and Kathy – to act as his foils for the evening.  This helped to informalise this storytelling, and have it come across more as a conversation with them than a dissertation to the crowd.

“I’m going on a journey tonight – are yah coming with me?”  We are brought back to 1991 and the release of the first Take That promotional video for ‘Do What You Like’ – stop the clip early on a frame of his bare bum.

The Kylie Minogue duet ‘Kids’ provided the perfect opportunity for the backing vocalists to into the spotlight,  with each taking a turn to replace Kylie on a verse.  With the spot so firmly focused on Williams’ it is easy to forget that there is also an amazing 11 piece band sharing the stage.  Fortunately there were a number of opportunities like this throughout the evening to allow each member their moment in the spotlight.

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ROBBIE WILLIAMS, A Day On The Green, Nikola Estate, 30/11/2023 / Photo – @_awii_

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A playful word swap during ‘Better Man’  “Lord, I’m doing all I can, to be a Carlton fan..”  brought the appropriate faux outrage from the West Coast crowd.

‘Rock DJ’ closed out the main set beneath a sea of laser lights.  With Williams’ exiting the stage early, guitarist Tom Longworth stepped into center stage for an extended solo.

After a remarkably short encore interlude, the familiar percussion intro to John Farnham’s ‘You’re the Voice’ rang out.  Williams providing a more rock-n-roll rendition of the classic tune – complete with the obligatory bagpipe solo.

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ROBBIE WILLIAMS, A Day On The Green, Nikola Estate, 30/11/2023 / Photo – @_awii_

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“Put your phones up …” as a sea of lights engulfed the vast estate in anticipation for the song most had waited all night to hear – ‘Angels’. The single responsible for catapulting Williams’ career into the stratosphere.  With the utterance of barely the first syllable from Williams, the capacity crowd took over vocal duties for the opening verse.

Closing out the night was an acapella medley of the hits performed throughout the evening, really tying the evening together into a cohesive whole.

Part standup comedy routine, part introspective one-man broadway show, part pop concert extravaganza, and an absolute pleasure to experience.  Proving without a doubt, 33 years in, Williams is still at the top of his game. 

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ROBBIE WILLIAMS, A Day On The Green, Nikola Estate, 30/11/2023 / Photo – @_awii_

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Check out Adrian Thomson’s full gallery of this event HERE

Check out Linda Memphis’ live review of Robbie’s AAMI Park event in Melbourne on November 22nd HERE

Follow ROBBIE WILLIAMS
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram

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ROBBIE WILLIAMS, A Day On The Green, Nikola Estate, 30/11/2023 / Photo – @_awii_

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Press Release 14th September 2023 (below) HERE

ROBBIE WILLIAMS
announces
GAZ COOMBES
as special guest
on all Australian dates

+ New tickets released for Sydney, Melbourne & Mt Duneed shows

XXV AU-NZ Tour Kicks off this November!

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AMNPLIFY – DB