SUPERSTAR Robbie Williams came back to Manchester -- and conquered all before him.
Bolton fans were entertained, even though Mr Williams was not the dapper gent we are used to.
In fact, his attire could have seen him at ease on a park bench.
But the adoring fans didn't care. They just wanted to see their hero.
And Robbie loves being worshipped -- you can tell in the way he just soaks up the female attention.
"Better quality knickers in Manchester," he yelled, as underwear was thrown on stage.
The show had an explosive start as fireworks threw sparks across the stage.
Opening with Let Me Entertain You, the girls in the crowd were already up for it after seeing just about every "gorgeous" man on the planet flashed up on the giant screen from Becks to Brad Pitt.
But Robbie's appeal is universal -- there were plenty of blokes in the audience.
A few older faces in the crowd were also joining in with the Mexican waves and the jumping up and down bit.
Robbie just wouldn't be Robbie without trying -- bless him --to swear and act tough.
But in the end he just comes over all little boy lost.
"I don't know whether this is a catapult," he smirked when a bra landed on the stage.
"You could fire a small dog from here to Wythenshaw."
We all forgave him for his naughty words and laughed at his cheek.
One of the highlights was Kids -- the song he smooches to with Kylie on THAT pop video where the cork goes pop and the champagne flows in the swimming pool.
The pint-pot Aussie even made an appearance on the stage -- at least in celluloid form on the giant screens.
Not one for the understatement, Robbie launched into My Way -- rock style.
He declared his favourite song from his last album was Phoenix From the Flames.
The former Take That Star admitted to nerves after singing She's The One perched on the edge of a giant piano.
He confessed: "Did you notice I didn't sing the high notes, that's because I can't.
"I'm just enjoying myself and then I realise there's 60,000 people watching."
As is almost compulsory, Angels was the encore, and even more compulsory, Robbie barely sang a note -- allowing the audience to sing it for him while he had a cigarette -- inviting the audience to light up as well.
Robbie had a quick change mid-way through into his number 8 soccer top -- sold in their thousands by touts outside the MEN arena.
The man from Stoke even had time to show off his own soccer skills, juggling a ball thrown on stage during No Regrets and volleyed back in to the ground -- all without missing a note.
His grand finale was Rock DJ after 1hour 45 minutes of all his best songs and many from his new album.
Last night proved that after all these years on the showbiz roller coaster, Robbie rocks.
Robbie plays Manchester until Saturday, except Wednesday -- all dates sold out.
Review by Jane Bullock Bodywork is being shown daily this week at UGC Cinema,
Valley Centertainment BODYWORK has the potential to be a great film, but sadly misses the mark.
All the actors give fine performances, but despite looking visually appealing and being accompanied by a belting soundtrack, the plot is rambling and downright confusing.
The story revolves around failed city slicker Virgil Guppy, who buys himself a second hand car and ends up being framed for murder when a body is found in the boot.
He becomes a fugitive and meets all sorts of weird and wonderful characters along the way as well as becoming embroiled in the underworld of car theft.
Meanwhile, his girlfriend, Fiona Money, played by Beth Winslet, heads straight for the arms of his best friend, Alex, who is a charismatic wheeler dealer.
Director and writer Gareth Rhys Jones is keen for critics to avoid any comparisons with Brit films such as 'Lock Stock' and 'Snatch', but the London setting, high body count, drugs, fast cars and trendy soundtrack make it hard not to think of Guy Ritchie's work.
Sadly, the film lacks the pace and coherence of anything directed by Madonna's other half and many of the scenes in Bodywork are plain confusing and the tangled web only gets more tangled as the story progresses without any satisfactory explanations.
No doubt plenty of fans of Kate Winslet will hotfoot it to the cinema to check out her younger sibling's performance.
She has a promising career ahead of her as she is a competent and photogenic actress and hopefully the comparisons with Kate will disappear in time.
Hans Matheson, who plays Virgil, is also an impressive actor who will certainly go onto bigger and better things and with scissor-sharp cheekbones he is sure to be a hit with the ladies.
For me, Charlotte Coleman, who played kind-hearted car thief Tiffany, stole the show and is one of the most under-rated actresses in this country.
She brought life to an unconvincing character and played one of the few roles the audience can feel any empathy for. Jane Bullock
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