I only seem to come to Munich for music. My first time here was back in 2013, for my second ever Robbie Williams show, and the last visit was 3 years later for Frightened Rabbit and Paws. This trip much more closely resembled that first one, in that it was also planned for a Robbie show, happened in August, and both times the night before the gig included big thunderstorms. Nobody asked me to marry them this time, though, so it's not exactly deja vu.
Anyway. When Robbie Williams - One Show & One Night Only -- a giant outdoor show for 100,000 people -- was announced, I woke up in the middle of the night to book my Platinum section ticket in the first minutes of the first pre-sale, and hoped Covid calmed its fool self down enough for me to go back to Munich. Since I've seen the city a couple times before, and the show was a bit away from the center of town, I prioritized the gig and booked a hotel that (on the map) was right across the street from the venue: Messe München, which other fans described as like a fairground. So while I figured the actual walk to the concert wouldn't be the 2 minutes that Maps quoted me, I guessed it couldn't be much longer than that, given that I could see the place from my window.
Per the ticket, the show was supposed to start at 8pm and end at 10:30. But there were 2 openers, and Rob always goes for 1.5 - 2 hours, so I figured it was probably more like a 6:00 start. Since my busted back and knees rebel if I make them stand for more than 3 or 4 hours, and the only opener I'd heard of was Lufthaus (who I love, but they just DJ on stage, and I mean... I could listen to dance records at home), I thought I'd leave just before 6:00 and probably catch 1 1/2 openers with my maybe 10 minutes walk.
Nope.
At the appointed time, I walked down a pathway right outside my hotel door, that was marked for Messe, so I assumed it was just on the other side of the road. After 30 minutes of following the crowds all the way across a much-bigger-than-a-fairground area, past building after building, I finally saw an entrance to the concert venue of this behemoth place. But it was the West Entrance, and my ticket said Ost (East). There was no other gate as far as I could see, and every person around me was going in West, so I just went on in and figured there'd be a way to go in the right entry to the actual concert section inside. No luck. Every sign was West, West, West.
So I gave up looking, bought a t-shirt, got all my wristbands, and walked into my section right about 7pm... as Lufthaus started their 3rd to last song, and the other opening act was long finished. The section was PACKED, almost all the way out to the edge where you couldn't even see the stage. So I thought, if everyone's coming in the West entrance, there's probably way more room on the other side. There's some space along the back barrier (between Platinum and Gold sections), so I'll just go through the crowd and pass on over. By the end of the song, I'd hit a point where there were only 4 or 5 more people in front of me, and then a barrier... guarding the catwalk coming down into the crowd (aka the B stage), which extended past the back fence into the Gold section. I couldn't cross over. So I sheepishly found the nearest open spot that would annoy the fewest of the nice people who arrived earlier than I did.. and inadvertently got myself my closest view of Rob since the tiny Las Vegas theatre, at least when he came down the catwalk. It was the first time I've actually had to turn my entire body to keep watching him move around during a big show, since the larger section at the end of the B stage was behind me. Here's to getting lost?
Side note: I ended up standing next to a mother / daughter pair, who were interviewed and then filmed by a couple of press people right before the show started and during Let Me Entertain You. My lack of German skills limited my ability to eavesdrop, but I gathered they were chosen because the mom was wearing a Robbie concert t-shirt and the daughter had a big sign that said MY MOM IS YOUR #1 BIGGEST FAN. OK, that's cute, but no. #1 BIGGEST FAN? Not a chance. I'm closer to #1 BIGGEST FAN than her, and I'm not anywhere near the top of that list. I mean, I'm not even the #1 Biggest American fan. Although maybe top 5? Gotta be at least top 10. But on the overall, world rankings, I couldn't possibly be higher than like #563 BIGGEST FAN, and this woman wasn't even in the same league as fans I run with. Fake news!
Ahem. Anyway.
Since all RW shows are similar in some ways, with most of the same set list, I best remember the differences. I was really excited that they started the encore with the new single Lost, which I love. I must listen to it a lot, because I realized last night that I already know almost all the words, even though it's only been out a couple of weeks. And it was fun to hear Tripping live, maybe for the first time ever (at least the first I remember).
Less fun a difference to remember was Rob leaving for a verse or so during She's the One, then coming back to end it and explain that he'd had to go throw up. I get it, buddy, that song makes me feel that way too. (Kidding. Kind of. That song's fine, I just never loved it. And after more than 20 years, I'm beyond sick of hearing it all the time).
But in all seriousness, when he told the crowd what happened, I immediately flipped from fangirl loving Robbie the entertainment machine and never wanting him to leave the stage to being concerned about Rob the person. I just wanted to say, No more songs! It's okay, these people don't need to hear Angels. Just go take care of yourself! Also, despite dark clouds overhead and a weather alert for "heavy and prolonged rain" issued earlier in the day for exactly the hours of the concert, the first drops of the night fell at the end of She's the One, and started to really come down after it ended. But our boy's a pro, so he stayed to sing Angels in the rain, and take a bow with the band before exiting stage right, with the huge crowd singing his song back to him.
Hopefully all was well with Mr Williams when things calmed down, and it was just the adrenaline of the night hitting him in the stomach -- having 100k people stare at you for 2 hours could make anyone's nerves jangly. Even the world's greatest entertainer.
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