In 2002, Robbie was prepping the release of his new album ‘Escapology’. To help promote the album, he recorded a show filmed live in the Pinewood Studios for a television broadcast. The general public was able to buy it when the DVD was released in March 2003. The show contained songs from his upcoming album as well as a ton of hits and some of his Swing songs. It did fairly well as far as video releases go selling well over 100,000 copies worldwide. I was out at a place called 2nd & Charles and saw this and had to grab it. I think I got it for only around $2.50 and it is worth way more than that in my book. I am sitting here with it cranked on the 5.1 surround sound on a 65 inch TV and it sounds and looks amazing.

The show opens with a performance of “Trouble/Handsome Man” which happens to be the same songs that Elvis Presley opened with for his ’68 Comeback Special which Robbie has recreated the same stage set up except it has a big “RW” rather than an “Elvis” sign. When he goes out in front of the crowd it is a small round stage in the middle of the crowd with only Robbie and the bad was off behind the crowd. When he runs out and does “Rock DJ”, his energy and the crowd is electric. This was the firs time he had been on stage in 12 months.

“Strong” is up next and up on the screen comes the words to the chorus with a bouncing ball so you can all sing along during the chorus. He is interacting with the crowd poking fun at them with a change in the lyrics. He’s having a ton of fun and it shows. Then he played the song he originally sent to Tom Jones, but he changed his mind and did it himself. It is called “Something Beautiful” off the new album. The crowd clapped, the piano’s ivories were tickled and Robbie sang it wonderfully. And if that wasn’t good enough, he played one of my favorite songs of his called “Feel”. It is a new song and he joked if anyone was singing it, they obviously downloaded it from the internet illegally. They cut to a pre-recorded clip of him doing the song in front of the giant “RW”. It is a great live version and the piano and percussion on it are fantastic. Still my favorite song.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=n8MoIUHAZgw%3Fsi%3DbSSjChngVDpc6alj

He then changed things up a did a bunch of his songs from his Swing album called “Swing When You’re Winning”. He played such classics as “Have You Met Miss Jones”, “Mr. Bojangles”, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)” and “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?”. Not many artists can do such a change of pace and get away with it, but Robbie has no problem playing that Swing and pulling it off like a natural. Sinatra…watch out. His interaction with the crowd between these songs is done masterfully as his wit and silliness make him charming and the crowd eats it up.

Now it is back to the new songs and the hits and first up is a new one with “Monsoon”. The band tour this one up and this time around we even got scantily clad women dancers in the background. Nice!! Robbie rocked the performance on this one. “Hot Fudge” was up next with the handclaps and full of Robbie swagger. Another new one and you could tell the crowd didn’t know this one, but Robbie still blasted through it with ease and the crowd loved it as he stood there staring at the dancers backsides and every side they had. Next is another one of his best songs with “No Regrets” and before he sang it he apologized to Take That and all the awful things he said after leaving that band. But even with all that bad blood, he got an incredible song out of it. I have to say that with this song and all these songs, Robbie has never sounded better.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bdb8gcpBLX8%3Fsi%3D1Fgja3WRDj5TEsg2

In an unexpected surprise (at least to me), Robbie pulls out an acoustic guitar which he says he has never played it in public before. He doesn’t do it alone as there is another guitar player to help. They play “Nan’s Song” from the new album. Robbie does the rhythm and the other guy does the lead work. I have to say the song turned out nicely done this way. They cut back to the in the round stage and he does “Me and My Monkey” off the new album. It is his first story song he’s ever done. It is a strange, hilariously lyrical song with a full mariachi type sound. A really cool and fun song.

Robbie gets his acoustic guitar back and he plays alone this time and he says it feels so weird playing. Now, don’t worry, the band plays along so it really isn’t just him. He is doing they rhythm again. This time the song is “One Fine Day” and it is ballad. One I wasn’t too familiar with, but it is a beautiful song and I like it a lot. We are getting to the final two songs and up first is “Come Undone” off the new album at the time. Another one of my favorite tracks of his. Robbie states he is going to sing the hell out of this one and I will say he did just that. A slow tempo to start, but the choruses completely rock out we even get a sweet guitar solo. And as you’d expect, the final song is his biggest hit, “Angels” and damn, more perfection. Normally, I’d hate ending on a ballad, but when the ballad is as good as this, it is understandable. A great track and worthy of the final song.

The Setlist:

1. “Trouble”/”Handsome Man” (from Escapology)
2. “Rock DJ” (from Sing When You’re Winning)
3. “Strong” (from I’ve Been Expecting You)
4. “Something Beautiful” (from Escapology)
5. “Feel” (from Escapology)
6. “Have You Met Miss Jones?” (from Swing When You’re Winning)
7. “Mr. Bojangles” (from Swing When You’re Winning)
8. “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)” (from Swing When You’re Winning)
9. “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?” (from Swing When You’re Winning)
10. “Monsoon” (from Escapology)
11. “Hot Fudge” (from Escapology)
12. “No Regrets” (from I’ve Been Expecting You)
13. “Nan’s Song” (from Escapology)
14. “Me and My Monkey” (from Escapology)
15. “One Fine Day” (from Come Undone)
16. “Come Undone” (from Escapology)
17. “Angels” (from Life thru a Lens)

What extras do you get? You get four additional songs that were cut from the show due to time constraints. The songs are “How Peculiar?”, “Sexed Up”, “Revolution” and the live stage version of “Feel” (as the show had a pre-recorded piece done). You get a behind the scenes documentary, a photo gallery and something called the “Lights Game” with an Easter Egg of “Sweet Home Alabama”. It was a fine set of extras.

This might be the best $2.50 I have ever paid for a music DVD. Robbie Williams is in his prime and it shows. His vocals are on point, his ego and swagger help him navigate through 17 songs and interact with a crowd to the point they were eating out of his hands. Musically, the big band he had were true professionals and played each song to perfection. It was a great show and it was just that. It wasn’t a live concert, but taped live for a TV show so remember that if you are looking for a full concert. This was so well done and you can’t deny that the songs he played weren’t some of his best. A truly spectacular show. My Overall Score is a solid 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars. Grab it if you see it.