Well OK but I should point out that I was never a big fan of his or the boy-band thingy predecessor, Ah That / Whammit / Take Away, whatever they were called, but I did like his line in "populist stadium anthem" type-tunes, though some had a bit too much saccharin pop psychology / angst for me.
Last night I found him nervous and vulnerable, his little stories were rambling and a trifle incoherent, the joke lacked a real punch-line. I'm not sure whether nervousness or vocal limitations came first but the top and bottom have gone from his voice - he was struggling to be heard in the lower registers and he missed most of the top notes in his own songs by a fair margin.
He vocal abilities and range were always (to me that is and I'm no Simon Cowell) secondary to his energy, wit and personality - he was a performer rather than a singer. I remember him from the first time in Slane and he took the place by storm with his vibrancy and apparent self-assuredness. We now know that some of that might have had external influences, but none the less his vocal limitations were secondary.
Last night the over-riding impression I was left with was of someone recovering from a long illness who has just come back a bit too soon and certainly physically he wasn't quite fit as he hardly moved from the little centre bit of the stage. There's huge pressure on him - the new record, X-Factor, the tour, the expectations of his new best-friends, etc.
In stark contrast, earlier last night one of popular music's most truly gifted natural musicians, Eric Clapton, who has had all the miseries of addiction, financial loss, bereavement, illness, bum recording companies and bum contracts, group break-ups, legal hassles and so on looked and sounded absolutely superb and he's twice Robbie's age.
I just hope it's not Robbie's comeback / farewell tour.
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