ROBBIE Williams couldn’t resist a cheeky swipe at a former Take That bandmate at his sold out Hyde Park gig at the weekend.
The 50-year-old performed one of the concerts of his career in front of 65,000 people as he headlined BST.
The 20-song set had the feel of an evening with… as Robbie, in confessional mood, talked his fans through both the rocky patches and euphoria of his music career.
During one section, Take That‘s saucy debut music video for Do What You Like played on the stage’s huge screen.
Robbie jokingly described it as “gay porn” as the lads stripped off and covered each other in jelly. The video paused on the part where his bare bum was exposed, much to the delight of the audience.
He went on to explain how he grew disillusioned with life in the group, adopting a snarky tone when pointing out songwriter Gary Barlow “sang all the songs”, which drew laughs.
The showman craved the limelight and revelled in it when he sang lead vocals on Could It Be Magic.
It would pave the way for the Stoke singer to launch one of Britain’s most successful ever solo pop careers, which he did with two George Michael covers and then his first original, the timeless Angels.
Robbie joked that when he found out the group was reuniting without him in 2005 after a nine year hiatus, it was through gritted teeth.
Despite his barbed recollection of Gary’s dominance in the group and their return, Robbie did go on to perform the song Back For Good and asked the audience to cheer for Gary, Jason Orange, Howard Donald and Mark Owen.
An onlooker said: “It was all very tongue-in-cheek and pantomime, but you couldn’t help but feel there was still a bit of needle behind it.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter anymore. Take That are going strong and Robbie’s gig proved he’s still the ultimate entertainer when it comes to working a massive crowd.”
Robbie repeatedly told the crowd how relieved he was that England had beaten Switzerland on penalties in the Euros minutes before he took to the stage.
He watched the game with his wife Ayda Field, his band and backing dancers, and Danny Dyer, who took on Phil Daniels’ part for a rendition of Blur‘s Park Life.
And had he not been in such a good mood he might have reacted differently to an overzealous fan fondling his manhood.
Speaking from the stage runway, Robbie said: “It’s not like the 90s. It’s very mumsy over here.
“One of them checked my temperature, one of them supported my back, but whoever that was over there is a magician because, I am not kidding you, this actually happened, somebody got their fingers like this [make pinching motion] and went right on my b***end.
“I’m not kidding you, that happened. They zoned in and went boom, like that. Thank you, you made an old man happy.”
There were also tear-jerking family friendly scenes when Robbie paid tribute to Ayda and their four kids – Teddy, 11, Charlie, 9, Coco, 5 and Beau, 3 – before singing I Love My Life as they watched on from an exclusive turret in the golden circle.
And another emotional moment came in the encore when Robbie laid bare his battle with self doubt, anxiety and addiction during the height of his fame, before leading into set closer Angels.
His family joined him on stage for the finale and they embraced in front of the huge sparkling screens as golden fireworks were launched into the sky from behind the stage.
