Robbie Williams Swing Both Ways, The O2, review: 'Cheesy camp fun'

Williams' hammiest show to date complete with lashings of feather boas

Robbie Williams performs during his 'Swing Both Ways' World Tour (Getty Images)

Robbie Williams is pop's Peter Pan - at the age of 40 he is still as energetic and gregarious as he was when he first launched his career in 1990. Sometimes this worked, sometimes it felt a bit embarrassing and a little try-hard, like watching a Northern version of Michael Bublé.

Williams has long known how to put on a good show, but this was his hammiest to date, complete with lashings of confetti and feather boas. Focusing largely on tracks from his latest swing album, this was old-fashioned entertainment with plenty of audience interaction.

At one point, he 'married' a member of the audience, who enthusiastically groped his derrière - Lynn from Dorset will be feeding off that story for years to come.

Williams was at his most charismatic during renditions of “Minnie the Moocher”, “New York, New York” and “I Wanna Be Like You”, which he naturally sang dressed as a gorilla in a tux. He was later joined by his father, who he sung a duet with. By the time “Angels” came, the crowd was a sea of hands.

It was cheesy, camp fun and the audience was completely charmed by him. Whether you like his cheeky chappy persona or not, it looks as if Williams will be entertaining huge auditoriums for years to come.