Robbie Williams: One Night at the Palladium - DVD

Content: Twelve years after the huge success of his first swing album Swing when you`re winning, Robbie Williams finally followed up in 2013 with Swings both ways. Unlike its predecessor, Williams presents here not only pure cover versions, but also some new compositions such as the ballad Go Gentle, which he wrote for his daughter Theodora Rose. It is a very ambitious and personal album, whose release should of course be celebrated adequately. A concert in the form of a Variety show at the Palladium in London's West End is of course just the thing. The result is One Night at the Palladium, a great concert that all fans can now take home.

In total Williams performs nineteen songs. Among them are songs from the new Swing album as well as some tracks from Swing when you`re winning, like Mack the Knife or Mr. Bojangles. In addition, there will be a few tracks that Robbie Williams has rehearsed especially for this evening. Besides the Oscar-winning Frank Sinatra song High Hopes, where the singer is supported by a children's choir, the swing version of the Radiohead song Creep is one of the surprise highlights of the evening.

As befits a show of this kind, a highly professional team is needed not only on stage but also behind the scenes to guarantee a smooth performance. And for this Robbie Williams has chosen none other than the Muppets. And so there are always little interludes in which Williams interacts with Kermit or Gonzo or has to be insulted by Waldorf and Statler from the balcony. The highlight, of course, is the duet with Miss Piggy, who has stepped in for Nicole Kidman and joins Robbie Williams to perform the hit Something Stupid. Not exactly flattering to the ears, but amusing all the same.

Musically much better are the duets Williams belts out with Lily Allen and Rufus Wainwright. But the most beautiful duet of the evening is performed by the ex-Take That singer and his father Pete Conway, who almost steals the show from his son.

Robbie Williams proves to be a first-class showman at this swing concert, who has the enthusiastic audience in his grip from the first moment on with a lot of wit and charm. And when he sings Go Gentle floating above the hall and even has to fight with the tears at the end, you have real goose bumps even as a viewer in front of the TV. All this makes One Night at the Palladium a really rousing concert DVD, which not only die-hard Robbie fans should not miss in any case!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD has a very high image sharpness and a decent image depth, so that the live feeling can easily spread in the living room at home. This is also helped by the sound mix, which is available in stereo, in Dolby Digital 5.1 and as a DTS mix. Everyone can choose the right sound for their home cinema system. If you don't have surround speakers, you'll get your money's worth with the very powerful stereo mix. Who calls a somewhat more sophisticated system his own, which should switch on the DTS track. Very good!

Extras: As a bonus, there is a nearly 13-minute-long look behind the scenes, where there is footage of the dance and vocal rehearsals, from the dress rehearsal or even from the shooting of the Muppet sequences, enriched with some interview snippets to see.

Conclusion: Robbie Williams: One Night at the Palladium is a really great concert, where Robbie Williams may prove himself not only as a good singer, but also as a talented entertainer. With support from Lily Allen, Rufus Wainwright, his father Pete Conway and from the Muppets Williams presents not only songs from his second swing album Swings in both ways, but also selected titles from Swing when you`re winning and some more surprises worth hearing. Fans of the swinging Robbie will not miss this technically very well realized DVD. Absolutely recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp