Status: 23.08.2024 00:05

British pop star Robbie Williams gave his first concert at the Hamburg race track on Thursday. The second will follow on Friday. Tickets cost just 25 euros. The catch: only HaspaJoker customers were allowed in.

by Katharina Preuth

“I’m loving angels instead” finally rings out at the end of the almost two-hour concert over the race track and the heads of the 25,000 fans. The almost 30-year-old song “Angels” immediately triggers a firework of memories – of an earlier Robbie Williams concert with my best friend as a teenager, of first car rides with the radio turned up loud, of graduation parties.

Robbie Williams and his fans have aged together

Hamburg fans love Robbie Williams – no matter what age.

The predominantly female fans who made the pilgrimage to the concert today have aged with the superstar. They have acquired wrinkles and grey strands together. Yes, there is no other way to say it, we have grown older, Robbie Williams has grown older. But he has lost none of his entertainer qualities, his humour and his hip swing.

It is well known that he is still not the best singer – but it is also well known that he can inspire his audience in other ways. On this evening in Hamburg he performed his Robbie Williams show, which always makes his concerts worthwhile. He talks about his career, about his time with Take That – not without a dig at his former band colleagues – and is very close to his fans. He dedicates almost every song of the evening to people in the audience with whom he had previously chatted in front of everyone. It is touching.

Fans want to hear the classics

In “Angels” at the end of the concert, every line of the fans’ lyrics is spot on, just like in “Feel” or “Let me Entertain you”. But his almost forgotten songs like “Come Undone” or “She’s the One” are particularly touching. His last album with new songs was released in 2016. “The Heavy Entertainment Show” was not even close to its previous successes, with only just under 500,000 sales. The fans want to hear the old classics – and that was the case this evening.

Access only for Haspa customers

Tickets for the concert cost 25 euros, which is an absolute bargain considering current ticket prices. By comparison, fans had to shell out 120 euros for the cheapest seats at a concert by pop star Taylor Swift. The catch: only holders of a HaspaJoker account could buy tickets for this exclusive concert. Haspa also left no doubt that this was a concert sponsored by them: the advertising banners hanging and waving everywhere were impossible to miss.

While Robbie Williams sings, jumps around the stage and talks about his life, the sponsorship plays no role – instead, the shared reminiscing is important. At the end, when his band and the dancers have already left the stage, he sings “Angels” again. While the audience gives it their all, the superstar disappears, leaving nostalgic hamburgers behind.

More information

Even at 50, the British pop star still gives everything on stage – and looks back on a career with ups and downs. more

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NDR Culture | Hamburg Journal | 14.02.2024 | 19:30