Apparently, Bublé is to blame. Were it not for the Canadian crooner, said Robbie Williams, he never would have released a rival Christmas album. So thank you, Michael Bublé, for a show that consisted mostly of Williams’s uniformly terrible festive record, The Christmas Present, interspersed with some of his genuinely great pop songs.
Wearing a sparkly red jacket and flanked by two giant Christmas trees, the 45-year-old laid his stall out from the start: “If you don’t like Christmas, leave now.” He should have extended that invitation to include all those who don’t like superfluous cover versions and dreadful originals. Walking In A Winter Wonderland harked back to his ill-conceived swing record, while original Rudolph was cheesier than a fondue set.
The motivation for why the former Take That man released this festive offering was revealed midway: “I believe in commercialism, which is why I put my album out at Christmas.” Artistically, it’s bankrupt. He expressed his desire for recent single Time For Change to become “one of those Christmas songs that becomes the fabric of your life.” The only canon it deserves to join is one involving a large amount of gunpowder and a short wick.
Yet if Williams’s Christmas album is irredeemably bad, then an evening in his company never is. In front of a crowd with a male/female ratio equivalent to that of a closing-down sale at New Look, he was the consummate performer with a voice big enough to fill this cavernous space.
Old favourite Strong was a showcase for his rasping tenor, while Feel was a superstar’s plea for human connection. Angels remains ones of the Nineties’ best songs and Williams one of its finest entertainers.
As for his recent Christmas output, you’d need a sled-load of goodwill to say anything jolly about it.
