TOUR NEWS

19/12/03
Rob in Sydney -all photos taken by me.

19/12/03
Musichead has pics from Saturday's concert at Aussie Stadium here.
You can also watch the press conference Robbie held at Spearmint Rhino in Melbourne here for dial up users and here for broadband users.
More pics from Sydney and Melbourne and pics from the Melbourne Press Conference here.
Inner Sanctum has backstage pics from Melbourne here.

19/12/03
Review of Robbie in Sydney -Musichead
He came, he sang, he wooed... but most of all he entertained. Robbie Williams ended his world tour last night with a second show at Sydney's Aussie Stadium.
Musichead was lucky enough to witness both nights. While the first show was fun to the max, the second would best be described as poignant with Robbie hinting it may be the last time we see him on stage. It seems this is the end of the Robbie Williams we've grown to known and have adopted as our own.
Personal highlights? Well it's tough to go past the standard opener Let Me Entertain You or its energetic cousin Rock DJ. Sydney sang its tuneful heart out for Better Man, impressing Robbie with our pitch perfect rendition. Sunday's crowd were treated to Kids and a smattering of topless girls on top of shoulders.
Two blondes were the envy of the audience after being plucked from the front for a sultry snog with Robbie during Come Undone. Saturday's pick Alison Fitzgerald was interviewed by Seven's Sunrise program this morning about the experience. It was Lindsay's turn on Sunday, reinforcing the reputation of Aussie ladies as stink-free smoochers. It seems we can stand out in the sun all day and still be fresh as a daisy. He wasn't so complimentary about Portuguese or Italian lasses though!
Robbie was close to tears during the acoustic Nan's Song and joked to his crew that "they weren't the fakes ones [tears] I normally do!". He dedicated Mr Bojangles to his dad Pete Conway who is with him in Australia.
As Robbie sings, "You gotta get high before you taste the lows". We experienced the high this weekend and come Monday, boy do we feel the low now it's all over!

19/12/03
An angel for Robbie -Daily Telegraph
HE may have kissed a few chicks before flying out of the country, but just one girl can lay claim to Robbie Williams getting on bended knee and proposing to her.
Machine Gun Fellatio's Christa Hughes (aka KK Juggy) holds the honour – and even has the ring to prove it.
"I'm still thinking about it, whether I'll marry him or not," she laughed, retelling the story to Confidential yesterday.
As support act for Robbie's Australian tour, the band were hanging out backstage when Robbie dropped in to their dressing room on Sunday night.
"I'd been on a kids' TV show that day and kind of bullsh . ted about how Robbie had proposed to me," Hughes explained.
"So I told him about it and he dropped down on his knee and popped the question," she said.
And the ring? "I had some costume jewellery, so I gave it to him and he gave it back to me. Very romantic," she laughed.
Hughes said that while the pair hadn't set a date yet, they had talked about where they wanted to get married.
"Now I'm possibly his fiance, I've always wanted to get married at Bronte Bowling Club, but he's keen on some place in Paris," she added.
The proposal follows a relatively short relationship for the couple, who first met two days before their romantic engagement while backstage preparing for the Sydney show.
"Maybe it was because I was wearing a sequined bikini. Maybe that's the only reason he asked me," she joked.

17/12/03
Robbie in Sydney -Sunday Telegraph
It's an unfortunate aspect of big indoor and all outdoor venues that the use of giant video screens is absolutely necessary because precious few people will be sitting close enough to see an artist's face during a show.
However, unless you are near the stage (and sometimes even if you are) you can spend your whole evening watching what is in effect a giant television screen rather than real flesh and blood.
It can't help but distance you - physically, obviously, but also psychologically as you inevitably become disengaged.
It's why groups such as the Rolling Stones work on the big gestures and the big props, to keep you paying attention. It's also why groups such as the Rolling Stones can be emotionally empty in big venues.
Though he does sing to the back stalls and works the stage with the energy and eye-catching flair of a Freddie Mercury, Robbie Williams works differently and it's illuminating.
He works on emotion, on intimacy, for his sake as much as ours. Yes, it's part of his shtick but it's also grounded in truth.
You can see that in the painfully honest lyrics - "So unimpressed but so in awe/ Such a saint but such a whore/ So self aware so full of shit", for example; or the comic but not necessarily untrue "I've sung some songs that were lame/ I've slept with girls on the game/ I've got my Catholic shame. I'm not expecting your sympathy/ But it's all been too much for me".
But you can also see it in the way Williams creates that intimacy during the concert, firstly by often singing directly to, and throwing Frankie Howerd-like raised eyebrows/asides at, the cameras - thereby turning the distant seats into up close and personal ones.
And then with old-style, but still effective, showman tricks such as encouraging a man in the audience to propose to his girlfriend, pulling up another girl to kiss during a song and joking about forgetting the words.
The question is, of course, do these techniques and a charismatic personality (that doesn't allow, nor need for that matter, any other substantial contributors on stage) make up for some of the other problems of a stadium show?
There's the inconsistently operating video screen or the echo bounce from the back of the stadium that intruded whenever the band dropped back, for example. The way Williams, who has a very good voice, sometimes would overstretch himself in going for the big vocal gesture rather than just sing.
The fact that no matter how well he used the screen we were still a long way from him.
Or for that matter non-site specific problems such as a long flat spot in the set, particularly a swing-less throwaway version of Mr Bojangles and a disappointing Me And My Monkey that never got past its Vegas affectations, almost stalling the show.
On balance, yes they did. Williams is a man you want to watch and a man who makes watching him hugely enjoyable. He's funny, human and capable of brilliance. He is not just a star but a genuine entertainer.
As for Duran Duran, well they can play. That's something I suppose. And they look like they're enjoying themselves as much as the keenest of the fans were. That's something too.
But Simon Le Bon still can't sing, they still can't pull off funk and they have at most three songs that hold the attention of disinterested (for which read, straight and male and anyone under 25) observers.
Unless you were having your first burst of hormones in the early to mid '80s, and now enjoy the thrill of reliving those years - and there were thousands of women here enjoying just that moment - you would be hard pressed to argue anything other than Duran Duran really were and still are rubbish.
You'd never say that about Robbie Williams.

17/12/03
Robbie rocks Sydney crowd -Herald Sun
POP superstar Robbie Williams has said he wants to buy a golf course when he returns to England.
Williams, a golf fanatic, played at the exclusive Australian Golf Club, at Rosebery, on Friday, accompanied by the club's resident professional, Ron Luxton.
Despite the odd temper tantrum, Williams completed nine holes before bad weather set in.
Last night, he performed the first of two Sydney concerts to 40,000 fans at Aussie Stadium.
Dressed down in tatty jeans, a sleeveless T-shirt, sneakers and a hooded vest, Williams opened with an electric Let Me Entertain You.
And he paid tribute to John Farnham by singing part of Farnham's hit You're The Voice.
One lucky woman named Alison was hauled on stage by Williams for a long pash with the singer.
"I do it every night, but you're the only one that hasn't stunk - you're a very good kisser," Williams said.
Williams is considering spending Christmas in Australia with his father, and is hoping to play another round of golf at the Australian course.
According to Luxton, he could do with it. "He was a bit shaky. My instructions must have ruined his game," he joked.
"Seriously, though, he was okay. He had a couple of pars, but we didn't keep an overall score.
"He swings all right and could get down to a single figure (handicap) if he played a bit more.
"He said he would do that when he gets back to England."
The Sunday Telegraph understands Williams spent thousands of dollars at the club's pro shop before teeing off. His purchases included a driver for his father and a putter for himself.
His father declined to play in the rain, however.
Williams expressed his love for golf at his concert in Melbourne last week, using the microphone stand as a make-believe club.

17/12/03
Robbie tees off in slow lane -Herald Sun
REFORMED wild man of pop/rock Robbie Williams lived life in the slow lane in Melbourne this week.
The new Robbie was anything but a party animal, drinking coffee, golfing and going out for dinner.
Hot on the heels of revealing his penchant for Australian women, the singer enjoyed a secret date on Tuesday night.
But the multi-millionaire performer quickly discovered he had some competition for the woman's affections -- her husband.
Williams dined with the film company employee after meeting her in the Como hotel bar.
He opened his heart during the meal, confessing success made it difficult to find love.
"Within minutes of being in Robbie's company, she told him that she was a happily married woman," revealed a friend of the mystery woman.
"He was really cool about it. They spent the next two hours talking and he told her how difficult it is to meet women because he's in the spotlight.
"He never gets to meet normal women -- they're either fans or fellow celebrities. And he never gets to relax and take women out for dinner. She said he was the perfect gentleman and completely down to earth. He was very charming and incredibly funny. He even arranged tickets for her and her husband to his concert."
Williams also spent time at the Albert Park driving range, where he practised on Monday night with a professional.
After treading the greens (possibly without much success) at Capital Golf Course on Tuesday, Williams returned to Albert Park on Wednesday for a private lesson. He requested the female professional who assisted him on Monday.
Unlike Paris Hilton, who expected everything for nothing, or for a sizeable discount, Williams paid the $82.95 fee for the 90-minute lesson.
LIKE Williams, Duran Duran focused on work, not parties, while in town.
Instead of hitting the clubs after its Wednesday show, the band stopped at the Grand Hyatt's Deco bar with Ian "Molly" Meldrum.

17/12/03
Robbie's record year -www.robbiewilliams.com
‘What We Did Last Summer – Robbie Williams Live at Knebworth’ DVD TOPS CHARTS AROUND THE GLOBE!!!
Robbie Williams celebrates the end of a phenomenal year with news that his DVD release ‘What We Did Last Summer – Robbie Williams Live at Knebworth’ is topping charts around the globe. The live DVD, a document of Robbie’s historic Knebworth shows, has achieved Gold sales status in Sweden and Holland, is now Triple Platinum in Australia and Portugal (where major retailer FNAC saw it outsell every music DVD, and also the Lord Of The Rings Special Edition plus Matrix II DVDs, on its first day of release).
In Germany the success story continues where ‘What We Did Last Summer’ sold a phenomenal 18,000 copies over the counter on its first day in store and debuted at the top of the German sales charts (combined with the CD ‘Live Summer 2003 – Recorded at Knebworth’). In Austria the DVD also debuted at No. 1.
In the UK ‘What We Did Last Summer’ is now officially the fastest selling music DVD of all time! It smashed all previous week one records, outselling its nearest competitors, U2 and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers by a ratio of more than five to one.
UK first week sales of ‘What We Did Last Summer’ totalled over 48,000 copies, with over 46,000 of those on DVD - nearly doubling the previous UK record held by Led Zeppelin’s recent eponymous release. This leaves Robbie in the enviable position of competing with himself for the biggest selling music DVD to date... ‘Live At The Albert’ has broken all previous music DVD records with total UK sales of over 138,000 (240,000 combined DVD and VHS formats). Forthcoming sales over the festive season however could well see ‘What We Did Last Summer’ eclipsing these figures by the end of the year.
The release of ‘What We Did Last Summer’ marks the end of an incredible 12 months. With the tour kicking off in June, Robbie sang to a staggering total of 1.24 million people over the summer and the Knebworth concerts were indisputably the biggest open-air shows in the UK, drawing close to 375,000 fans to the Hertfordshire estate over three consecutive days.
The ensuing live CD, ‘Live At Knebworth,’ released on 29th September became the fastest selling live album ever in the UK selling 117,863 copies in its first week alone. UK sales for the live album currently stand at 300,000 and counting.
So... a big thank you to everyone who came to the shows this year and made them what they were, and to all of you who have bought the live album and DVD/VHS!!!

17/12/03
Ten things you might not know about about Robbie Williams -Herald Sun
1. Golf is his new obsession. When he recently toured New Zealand Robbie spent all his spare time on the golf course - sometimes playing as many as 40 holes at a time.
2. Robbie's dad Pete is on tour with him at the moment.
3. He has a scar on his head from jumping into an empty fountain in Italy.
4. He has a pet wolf called Sid.
5. He wants to name his first child Sunny, whether it's a boy or a girl.
6. He turns 30 on February 13.
7. His first Sydney show on this tour sold out in 14 minutes.
8. His Live At Knebworth album is the fastest selling live album in UK history.
9. His percussionist on this tour is Max Beesley, former percussionist with Robbie's former boy band Take That. Beesley also starred opposite Mariah Carey in her mega-flop Glitter.
10. His first solo single after leaving Take That was a cover of George Michael's hit Freedom. (Herald Sun)

9/12/03
Robbie laughs off gay rumours -Sunday Times
ROBBIE Williams laughed off gay rumours today during a press conference at a Melbourne strip club.
“I will do anything to prove I am not gay,'' Williams said as he was surrounded by scantily clad women at inner-city club the Spearmint Rhino.
``He will go to any lengths to prove he's not gay that Robbie Williams .... in fact he's the only gay man in history who doesn't fancy men and has never had sex with them.''
The former bad boy of rock, in Melbourne for a show tomorrow night, was lead onto a stage by four women dressed in white underpants and singlets emblazoned with the words: ``I love Robbie Williams''.
It was the same stage where only moments before the same women had entertained the waiting media with pole dancing to some of Williams' greatest hits.
The British rocker, 29, told journalists he was ready to settle down.
``I am looking for a missus,'' Williams said.
``I am 30 in February and I have done everything professionally that I want to do, I have partied like not many other people have partied and it's time for me to settle down and have children.''
Williams will have played before 1.2 million people when his Escapology tour ends in Sydney on December 14. He has been touring with `80s icons Duran Duran and described it as ``freaky''.
``To have Duran Duran as support has been so just freaky,'' he said.
``They should be doing the stadium.''
Williams said the end of his tour would also represent a change in direction for the star who has sold more than one million albums in Australia.
``I have been thinking these next three gigs is a full stop in my career, whatever I do next will be different to say the least'' he said.
``I know this is the end of 15 years as a boy band member, as Robbie Williams the singer-songwriter and cabaret artist.''
However acting was not on the agenda, he said.
``I am not interested in acting whatsoever,'' he said.
``I think it's a silly profession, it's really boring as well.
``It's such a weird profession with such weird people.''
Williams is in Australia with his father Pete Conway and said he was considering staying on and spending Christmas in the country.
The star was also presented with a plaque for one million Australian record sales at the conference.
Williams will also perform at two shows in Sydney on December 13 and 14.

9/12/03
Robbie gives up on America -Undercover
Robbie Williams has decided he will never be a star in America and that is fine by him. Williams, who now lives in Los Angeles, has found that America actually gives him a place to get away. "It is both a curse and a blessing" he tells Undercover News. "I have decided to knock the whole thing on the head and just live there". He says not being able to walk down the street in Europe or Australia is not what it is cracked up to be. "The fame is like a child" he says. "It is great when it is being cute but when it shits itself you want to give it back to somebody. In America I get to be Rob".
Trying to break into the American market is no longer an option for the singer. "I am knocking the whole thing on the head over there. I am quite happy with my career and how everything else is going everywhere else" he said.
Robbie Williams will turn 30 in February. He thinks it is finally time for him to settle down. "I've decided that it is really important to me as a human who wants to have children and be in a good steady relationship that there is a place that I can grovel without being Robbie Williams and a place my children can grow up without me being Robbie Williams" he says. "Right now the place that is that way is America".
Williams starts his Australian tour in Melbourne Wednesday night at Telstra Dome. He will play Aussie Stadium in Sydney on Saturday December 13 and Sunday December 14.

9/12/03
Robbie to slow down and re-evaluate life -ABC Online
Popstar Robbie Williams has signalled a change in his music and his life ahead of his three sell-out Australian shows. Williams told Melbourne journalists he sees his 30th birthday in February as a chance to slow down, re-evaluate life and search for the perfect partner. He says he has about 50 of his own songs he would like to pursue in a more laid back style, preferably in America where no one knows him. "I actually see these three shows as a full stop to a certain part of my career you know," he said. "Whatever I do next will be different to say the least. "This is the end of 15 years as a boy band member and of Robbie Williams the singer/songwriter come cabaret artist."

9/12/03
A picture of model behaviour -New Zealand Herald
Nicky Watson, seen outside Auckland's Ascot Metropolis yesterday morning, was quick to tell a passing photographer she was definitely not visiting Robbie Williams. We are happy to take the word of the model partner of former league star Matthew Ridge, but wonder if the randy rock star has seen her ample attractions. After all he has a taste for Kiwi girls - having dated Rachel Hunter and during his last visit he shared a Metropolis suite with one Robyn Reynolds, who the London tabloids described as "a rampant Maori kiss-and-tell model". And Ms Watson has been voted this country's sexiest woman.
St John is hoping Robbie Williams doesn't have the same effect on pregnant New Zealand women as he does on British ones. During the star's concerts to an audience of 125,000 people at Knebworth, England, this year; a dozen women went into labour. One woman's waters broke during Let Me Entertain You, the other 11 started contractions during Kids. So if he's keeping up his average, six Kiwis could kick into action from among the crowd of 50,000 expected at Auckland's Western Springs tonight. St John events manager Adam Johnston says the service is ready for anything, with medically equipped golf carts able to traverse the stadium.

9/12/03
Sex, booze, drugs -so whats next? -Herald Sun
Robbie Williams's career has taken many turns. Brett Thomas explores what's ahead for the pop star loved for his candour as much as his music.
Life tends to become dramatically compressed when measured in pop years. Robbie Williams - singing superstar - will turn 30 in early 2004, but, in pop years, it's almost time for him to start thinking about collecting his gold watch and super.
In just eight years, Williams has gone from pop childhood (his stint in British boy band Take That), to rebellious celebrity (his infamous "Blobbie" Williams booze and drugs stage), to successful adult (millions of solo album sales, giant concert tours) to midlife crisis (revelations of depression, a frustrating inability to break through in the US).
He will finish 2003 in Australia, strutting his stuff before more than 150,000 fans at three massive outdoor shows in Sydney and Melbourne this month. But once the roar of those crowds fade, Williams will have some serious thinking ahead of him.
Unlike rock, which is much kinder to its senior citizens, very few pop stars are able to maintain the rage into their 30s. The exceptions - Kylie and Madonna - have done it through exhausting bouts of reinvention, managing to stay ahead of the perpetually moving pop curve.
It is not known exactly how Williams will reinvent himself for his post-30 career. He has promised to release another Frank Sinatra-influenced swing album next year, but that's more of a gimmicky sideline than a reinvention. His other planned 2004 release is a greatest hits album, which is purely revisionist. His much talked about deal with EMI - rumoured to be worth upwards of £80 million ($190 million) - gives him plenty of incentive to rethink Robbie Williams, as does the fact he will be continuing without his songwriting partner Guy Chambers.
Chambers is the man responsible for hits such as Angels, Let Me Entertain You and Millennium, but he walked when Williams demanded he sign an exclusivity agreement forbidding him to write with anyone else.
Williams has so far been unwilling to tamper with the winning formula that has made him England's biggest male solo star, but circumstances now demand it. His combination of classic Elton John-style pop and old-fashioned English music hall performance may have earned him a personal fortune of more than £35 million ($83 million) and international superstardom, but the US - the world's biggest and most important pop market - remains disappointingly out of reach. In the same way that the British comic actor Sid James was never going to be a Hollywood star, Williams may never be a big American pop star. It's his inherent Englishness that the Americans just don't get, no matter how many cloying references to LA or Uncle Sam he includes in his songs.
"Too camp," said American singer Sheryl Crow when asked why Williams couldn't crack the States. It seems the Americans much prefer the Justin Timberlake type. Williams has already been talking about reinvention, telling fans at a recent intimate London show that his 30th birthday in February would coincide with "a new me". But only days earlier, at the launch of his What We Did Last Summer concert DVD, he was apparently contemplating retirement. "I think about quitting every day," he said.
It pretty much summed up pop's most intriguing star: the outrageously boastful loudmouth who spends the last minutes before every performance convinced he's not up to the job; the ladies man who continually battles gay rumours and says he just wants to settle down and get married; the party animal who fled his own lavish DVD launch after six minutes in favour of a takeaway dinner with his mum. Of course, Williams is a born entertainer with an entertainer's flair for keeping himself in the news, and much of what he says and does should be viewed in that context.
He has been mouthing off to spectacular results since leaving Take That in 1995, becoming a master of the type of celebrity put-down the British tabloids gleefully splash across page one. His former Take That bandmates were, "selfish, stupid, greedy, arrogant and thick". Fellow pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor has, "a face like a satellite dish and my nan's ankles". He sent Oasis's Noel Gallagher a funeral wreath after that band released its Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants album. "RIP. Heard your last album. With deepest sympathy, Robbie Williams", the card said.
The media and, in turn, his fans, love him for that.
They love him for his candour, his stories about Blobbie Williams tumbling drunk down the stairs of Dodi Fayed's yacht, his fall cushioned by Kate Moss and Yasmin Le Bon; or the time he left an awards ceremony and spent the next 72 hours snorting cocaine with an armed robber recently released from jail.
They love him for his long line of celebrity dalliances - including, allegedly, Geri Halliwell, Nicole Appleton, Nicole Kidman, and Rachel Hunter. They willed him to come back after he revealed he had lost two years of his life to drugs and booze. They cheered him on ecstatically when he crowned his 2003 European tour with three sold-out shows at Knebworth in England, playing to 375,000 people.
There is a feeling, though, that Williams in his current incarnation may have peaked.
His now regular threats to retire not only reflect his deep insecurity, but also his unwillingness to do the same thing over and over again, especially if the US keeps rejecting him. Thus pop's biggest unanswered question remains: What will Robbie do next?

8/12/03
Robbie to receive award in Melbourne -Herald Sun
ROBBIE Williams will be presented with a plaque honouring one million Australian record sales in Melbourne tomorrow.
It's a major career turn around for the UK pop star who, only four years ago, was treated as a leper by local radio and whose UK near-national anthem Angels was released in Australia three times, flopping each time.
But Angels now closes his no-expense-spared stadium stage show, which hits town this week.
Williams, who has flown in his father for the Australian -- and final -- leg of his world tour, began with an outdoor show for 50,000 people in Auckland on Saturday. He is one of the highest-selling stars in New Zealand chart history, and told fans he's still friends with ex-girlfriend and Kiwi model Rachel Hunter.
As soon as Williams enters the enormous stage feet-first, hanging from a rope, it's clear he's the only star of his generation who could pull off a show like this.
His mixture of rock cliche, heart-tugging balladry and emotional lyrics are washed down with an endearing dose of self-deprecation and cheeky British pantomime banter.
On his last Australian tour two years ago Williams was in the throes of self-torture, proclaiming he wanted to "kill off Robbie" and stated he didn't deserve the adoration of his across-the-board fan base.
Since then he's discovered anti-depressants, golf and, thankfully, how good he is at what he does. While he's often going through the motions he's got the money-can't-buy charisma and charm sorely lacking in the never-ending production line of TV pop idols.
But Williams was almost blown off stage by his ridiculously over-qualified support band, Duran Duran and its to-die-for musical repertoire.
The band, which has re-formed with its classic '80s line up, played a generous hour-long set with wall-to-wall hits.
Looking fitter than even Williams, Duran Duran performed faithful and powerful renditions of hits A View to a Kill, Planet Earth, Union of the Snake, Girls on Film, Rio, Hungry Like the Wolf, The Reflex, Ordinary World, The Wild Boys, Notorious and Save a Prayer just as their legion of fans remembered them.
Duran Duran play a sold-out solo show at the Metro tomorrow, and support Williams at Telstra Dome on Wednesday.

8/12/03
Robbie pulls big crowd at Springs -New Zealand Herald
If it wasn't already official, Robbie Williams has joined the rock star elite after his concert with Duran Duran on Saturday night. Up to 50,000 turned out to Auckland's Western Springs, putting the concert in the same crowd-pulling league as the Rolling Stones and the Bee Gees. But pop's favourite loveable rogue still has some way to go before he catches David Bowie, who attracted 80,000-plus fans to the Springs in 1982, and 70,000 are thought to have attended ZZ Top's concert in 1987. Other big attendances include the Dire Straits tour of 1986, which was seen by 150,000 over four shows nationally, and 94,000 saw Michael Jackson over two nights at Ericsson Stadium in 1997. The Williams double bill was evidently enjoyed by those who made the trip. And the performers equally enjoyed themselves, say promoters. Williams is staying on in New Zealand for a few days' holiday, but members of Duran Duran were on their way back to Britain last night.

7/12/03
Strippers off the menu for Robbie -Sunday News
Robbie Williams has given up the booze and is quitting smoking. And now strippers are off the menu for the one-time bad boy of rock.
Last time Robbie toured here he was entertained by topless dancers the New Zealand Angels.
But when on of his tour group inquired about booking Aucland strip club the White House for an after-gig party last night, they didn't even want the strippers.
"They were looking at taking the whole White House" and putting a band in says the owner. "It was the place they wanted, not the striptease artists".
Last nights show at Western Springs, was a smash hit.
But the tour, with 80s legends Duran Duran, as been a mild affair compared with previous visits.
Since arriving on Thursday, Robbie, has played golf with his dad, Pete - and dined quietly at Aucklands trendy Vivace and Sky Tower's Orbit revolving restaurant.
"Robbie joined his party in the bar of Metroplois hotel on Thursday & Friday nights. But he was sipping iced water" an onlooker said. "He looked more like an athlete than a rock star. He was wearing a singlet at one stage and he was really toned and tanned".
He showed off his soccer skilles in an five-a-side impromptu match at Western Springs yesterday afternoon.
Robbie wowed the crowd last night with an action-packed show, writhing from dancers and dangling from his ankles on a rope.
He even dragged a female fan onto the stage for a snog.
Last time Robbie was in NZ - 2001 - he asked his Auckland concert crowd to "get their tits out".
He also had the audience in fits of laughter when he referred to his Hamilton Model Robin Reynolds, the previous year.
But last week Robbie told 91ZM he was enjoying this tour much more.
"Last time i was here I was really unhappy, but this time it's a lot better" Robbie said.
"It's classic to say I wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for everything I have been through and that I have no regrets.
"But that's bullshit. There are lots of things I would not put myself through again".
Robbie told how he was offered cocaine by a man at a nightclub.
"I said, Yeah, I've never done that before, I'll try that".
"That's the time I regret".

10/10/03
Robbie Williams article "The Show Must Go On" in Australian magazine SAIN. Read the full article here.

5/10/03
www.take40.com have a special feature on Robbie. The feature includes an audio interview, samples from Escapology and Live Summer 2003, music videos, image gallery, tour dates, weblinks and a poll. Click here to check it out.

24/9/03
Knebworth gig will be broadcast on the Austereo network this Sunday, for all radio stations and times aswell as the full page article from EMI click here.

24/9/03
Robbie set for sell out -Herald Sun
ROBBIE Williams is set to be the first rock act to sell out Melbourne's Docklands Stadium.
"A lot of people in the industry said I was crazy to put this show on," promoter Michael Chugg said yesterday. "But this is going to be the first rock sell-out at Telstra Dome, and I'm very proud."
Pop star Williams has succeeded where others, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruce Springsteen, Ricky Martin, Barbra Streisand and Kiss have failed.
Those acts have performed at Telstra Dome, but not to capacity crowds. Williams has 5000 tickets left to sell before he gets a 55,000-seat capacity at Docklands.
"I was worried about Telstra Dome because nothing had sold out there, but I was encouraged by the record crowds the football was getting this year," Chugg said.
He also revealed he approached the MCG to stage Williams' show.
"We couldn't get it," Chugg said. "They wouldn't move a NSW-Vic Pura Cup cricket match."
With the MCG recently celebrating 150 years, promoters are speculating about the future of stadium rock.
Robbie Williams, and support act Duran Duran, perform at Telstra Dome on December 10.

19/9/03
Robbie Williams sells out in 9 minutes -Undercover Music
Robbie Williams Sydney show at the Aussie Stadium sold out this morning in 9 minutes.
Internet presales last week took up 18,000 of the 50,000 available seats but the remaining 32,000 tickets went in less than 10 minutes when they went onsale over the counter this morning.
Michael Chugg said, "It's fantastic for the music industry in Australia that in just a short time this morning in Melbourne and Sydney 100,000 people have been able to buy tickets to this unbelievable show".
A second Sydney show for Robbie Williams has now been announced for Sunday December 14. Tickets are already on sale.

19/9/03
Robbie stakes global superstar claim -Ananova
Robbie Williams has staked his claim to being a global superstar after Australian fans snapped up all 42,000 available tickets to his Syndney concert in half an hour.
Promoters were forced to add an extra date at the 42,000-capacity Aussie Stadium due to the insatiable demand to see the singer in action.
Williams, who wowed nearly half a million British fans at Knebworth this summer, will be playing with Duran Duran and supported by Australian favourites Machine Gun Fellatio.
Once the announcement was made that Williams would be playing Sydney on December 13, the promotion company said they were "under siege" from people wanting tickets.
Based on the interest in Williams and pre-sales of tickets over the internet, plans for a second Sydney date on December 14 were hastily put together.
Williams is also playing a date at Melbourne's Telstra Dome on December 10 as he takes his Escapology tour round the world.

13/9/03
Robbie Williams pre sales sell out in a day -Undercover Music
Australian's snapped up all allocated Internet presales to Robbie Williams Sydney and Melbourne shows on the first day of sale.
Internet sales were scheduled to be on sale until September 16.
"18,000 tickets in Sydney and 18,000 in Melbourne went on the day" Caroline Tully, Michael Chugg Entertainment General Manager tells Undercover News.
The remainder of the seats will now go on sale over the counter at 9am Friday September 19.
Robbie Williams is touring Australia in December with support Duran Duran.
He is playing the 50,000 seater Telstra Dome in Melbourne on December 10 and the 50,000 capacity Aussie Stadium in Sydney on December 13.

11/9/03

read the official press release here.(you will need acrobat)

3/9/03
King Robbie bringing former pop royalty on NZ tour -New Zealand Herald
It's the return of the king. Robbie Williams is playing in Auckland in December and he's bringing with him some former British pop royalty - Duran Duran.
The band which helped define the sound and style of the 80s with hits like Girls on Film, Hungry Like the Wolf, and Save A Prayer, has reformed its original line-up - Simon Le Bon, Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor - for a new album and tour.
The group were awarded a lifetime achievement award at the MTV music video awards last week in New York in between sold-out dates on their American tour.
They will open for Williams. He returns after his late 2001 concerts, which with dates in Wellington and Christchurch, became the biggest money-spinner in New Zealand concert history. It was estimated to have grossed $10 million with about 100,000 people in the audience across his four dates.
Williams' bigger 2003 stadium show requires carries 400 tonnes of gear on twenty trucks and needs sixty crew to build it with the staging featuring a walkway that runs twenty metres into the centre of the audience.
It seems the rest of the country is missing out as Williams' appeal in Australia has finally caught up with his greater popularity in New Zealand. Having played indoor arenas when he was last across the Tasman, this time Williams is performing at Melbourne's Telstra Dome on Wednesday December 10 and Sydney's Aussie Stadium on Saturday December 13.
Tickets for the Auckland show go on sale on Monday September 22 at New Zealand Postshops, via the website Live In Concert or phone 0800 000575.

3/9/03
Robbie returns to Oz with Duran Duran -soundbuzz
Robbie Williams is returning to Australia – this time he will be performing in stadiums with that 80s music-meets-fashion-meets-art meisters Duran Duran. Twenty-five years after they first got together, sixty million albums later, and eighteen years after they last toured, 80s seminal “New Romantics” Duran Duran have reformed their original line-up and are ready to play.
Like in Europe, where Robbie played massive sold-out stadium gigs across the English summertime [and the coming autumn tour is sold-out too], he will bring his colossal stage show to: Melbourne’s Telstra Dome, December 10 and end at Sydney’s Aussie Stadium on December 13. Tickets for all shows hit the internet first from 9am Thursday September 11 and then go over the counter from 9am Friday September 19.

2/9/03
Robbie Williams boosts the Australian Travel Industry -undercovermusic.com
The Robbie Williams and Duran Duran event may only be happening in Sydney and Melbourne but promoter Michael Chugg has organized travel packages for the rest of the country.
The event is expected to be a boom for the ailing travel industry with estimations of more than $5m flowing through travel agents cash registers because of the tour.
Fans in other parts of the country are invited to make a holiday out of the event with tickets which include travel and accommodation packages for the shows in Sydney and Melbourne.
The Robbie event is seen as one of the hottest tickets in town with the production being equal in size to show performed recently in the UK for 1.3 million people. "We didn't want to bring a percentage of this show here," said Michael Chugg. "A portion of it. A bit. Robbie's got a big personality. He's a big star. And this is a big show."
In the UK, Williams performed to 125,000 a night. In Dublin, he played to 135,000. "We wanted Australians and New Zealanders to have the same enormous, awesome, Robbie Williams stadium show - uncut" Chugg says.
Dates for Robbie Williams and Duran Duran are:
Saturday December 6, Auckland, Western Springs
Wednesday December 10, Melbourne, Telstra Dome
Saturday December 13, Sydney, Aussie Stadium
Internet presales start September 11. Tickets are on sale over the counter September 19.

2/9/03
G'day Robbie -dotmusic.com
Robbie Williams and 80s superstars Duran Duran will tour together later in the year.
The unlikely pairing will hit the road in Australia in December for three stadium dates as part of Robbie's world tour.
The dates in full:
December
6 - Auckland, Western Springs
10 - Melbourne, Telstra Dome
13 - Sydney, Aussie Stadium
Duran Duran are on the comeback trail having played an intimate reunion show recently and picking up a lifetime achievement award at last week's VMAs in New York.
Robbie's 'Escapology' tour has already been heralded as a massive success after three sold-out shows at Knebworth saw him play to nearly half a million punters and million more on TV. The publicity also sent the album back to the No.1 spot.
His tour continues next month further into Europe playing at the following:
October
20 - Lisbon, POR Atlantic Pavilion
22 - Madrid, SPA Palacio Vista Alegre
24 - Barcelona, SPA Pavello Olimpic
25 - Lyon, FRA Halle Tony Garnier
27 - Geneva, SWI Geneva Arena
28 - Geneva, SWI Geneva Arena
30 - Milan, ITA Fila Forum
31 - Milan, ITA Fila Forum
November
03 - Budapest, HUN Budapest Arena
04 - Prague, CZE T-Mobile Arena
06 - Katowice, POL Spodek Sporthall
09 - Moscow, RUS Olympiski
11 - Helsinki, FIN Hartwall Arena
12 - Helsinki, FIN Hartwall Arena
14 - Oslo, NOR Valhal
15 - Oslo, NOR Valhal

2/9/03
Robbie Williams – Sydney's $4 million man -thanks to Mel
That's how much money Tourism Sydney stands to make from the upcoming Robbie Williams/Duran Duran concert on December 13, at the expense of Sydney fans.
More than a quarter of the 51,000 tickets for the Robbie Williams and Duran Duran concert at Aussie Stadium on December 13 have already been reserved and could go to inter-staters, according to Tourism Minister Sandra Nori.
She said interstate fans were able to secure exclusive travel packages, starting from $495, which included return airfare, accommodation and a guaranteed concert ticket, before they're made available to Sydneysiders. Up to 15,000 tickets have been set aside for the package deals.
Promoter Michael Chugg yesterday denied 15,000 tickets had been put aside exclusively for the packages.
He said credit card bookings were being taken but fans who get in first with the package won't necessarily be getting better seats.
But Qantas Holidays, who are selling the packages, said they had two types of tickets available – seating and general admission standing tickets, the same that will be made available to queuing Syd ney fans on September 19.
Local diehard Robbie Williams and Duran Duran fans could possibly lose out on securing tickets as Tourism Sydney tries to lure more tourists to NSW.
"The travel packages we are offering will be on sale two weeks before the box office opens, so it's a great way to increase visitation at the start of the summer period," Nori said in a statement.
She said they were set to make at least $4 million from the concert, if package sales turned out to be as high as they expected.