Robbie Williams review – tiny Camden gig offers blinding star wattage – and a surprising new song about Morrissey

<p><strong>Dingwalls, London</strong><br>Previewing new album Britpop to an audience of 600, the star promises ‘no stadium bravado’ and delivers droll new songs alongside stripped-back oldies</p><p>What do you do if you’re a superstar who has pulled well over a million people to a stadium tour? If you’re as contrary as Robbie Williams, you play a gig in a shoebox. This late-night show at the 600-capacity Dingwalls, the smallest venue of his career to date, is a rum event. It was originally a launch evening for a new album, Britpop, now postponed to February. Williams makes no bones about why. “It’s because of Taylor Swift,” he admits, in a week where her new album The Life of a Showgirl is outselling the rest of the UK Top 20 put together. “I could pretend it’s not, but it is. It’s selfish. I want a 16th No 1 album.”</p><p>Bounding on stage just as the pubs are closing, a grinning Williams clearly relishes the intimate environment. “I’m not doing all that stadium bravado and pointing,” he vows, launching into a full, stripped-down run-through of his 1997 debut album, Life Thru a Lens, with lengthy between-song reminisces of the circumstances of its making.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/oct/10/robbie-williams-review-dingwalls-london">Continue reading...</a>