Live Review: Robbie Williams, Lawson

There's a certain predictability to Robbie Williams gigs, and if you're down with it, then you're pretty much guaranteed a good time.

Some of the minor details change (like the support act, this time the sweet UK acoustic based band Lawson), but the showmanship and shameless turn towards his hits remains the same. Mugging for the crowd from tour title and opener Let Me Entertain You all the way to the end's cover of Sinatra's My Way, Williams didn't miss an opportunity to prove he's still got puppy dog-like love for pop music. Interesting was the little snippets of influences that snuck in, like a verse of U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For in Come Undone, Joan Jett's I Love Rock 'n' Roll into Rock DJ and Lorde's Royals, Jay Z's 99 Problems and The Beatles Hey Jude into Millennium. There was also, then of course, a few shameless digs at boy bands past and present, with One Direction getting a gentle jibe with a changed verse in Me And My Monkey, and then a genuinely sweet nip at Lawson who joined Williams on stage for a paired back version of Back For Good. "You know, when boy bands just sung and danced - we didn't need to be able to play anything," he explained cheekily.

The presentation was particularly impressive with a background screen that seemed to mould out and across the crowd at times, topped off by three mirror balled Robbie Williams bust heads and a cracking band to support. Like last tour Williams' dad made a tuxedoed cameo, as did a girl from the crowd (Williams made very sure this one was over age - a joke that landed on his own mix up earlier on the tour where he flirted with a less than legal devotee). Encore included a giant karaoke version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody (with Williams as Freddie, naturally), as well as some crowd serenades for Angels. Live, Williams is pretty hard to beat.