Robbie Williams conquers nerves at the Roundhouse

After a shaky start, Robbie Williams put his comeback nerves behind him and gave a super-confident show at the Roundhouse last night, his first full concert in London for three years.

Normally a stadium performer, he wanted a more intimate venue to make his return, having admitted to suffering from stage fright in recent years. A crowd of 3,000 - among them Sir Ian McKellen, Will Young and Ant and Dec - turned out for the concert that kicks off the BBC's Electric Proms series.

First he had to put that recent X Factor appearance behind him, still the subject of tabloid chitchat. As Caitlin Moran writes in her Times review of last night's show (see below), Williams's appearance on Simon Cowell's TV show was a disaster: "sweating, wild-eyed and struggling with a stage door that wouldn't open, he came across less like a returning pop hero, more like someone who'd just nicked a jacket from Zara, and was worried about being stopped by security".

But after a slow start at the Roundhouse with Bodies and Morning Sun he warmed up with the first of his golden oldies, Come Undone, and with the crowd singing along, he was soon back in the groove.

By the time he performed his final set of Angels, Millennium and a cover of his producer Trevor Horn's big hit, Video Killed The Radio Star, the X Factor, the stage fright, the idea that he might need more time out - they were all history.

"He looked like he absolutely loved it," 35-year-old Kirsty Stirling told a BBC reporter afterwards. She should know - she's seen Williams live 35 times.

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Andy Gill, the Independent: "Previously, there has been a distinct tendency for Robbie Williams shows to become simply an opportunity to bathe in the star's oceanic self-regard... But as the show progressed, his more chummy, blokeish side prevailed in self-deprecating chat about his greying hair and his rapprochement with Take That... Despite my own deep-seated antipathy, even I was impressed by the easy assurance with which Williams made light work of a risky gamble."

Alexis Petridis, the Guardian: "Williams bore little relation to the figure on television a couple of weeks back. For a man who now apparently suffers from stage fright so acute that he has no plans to tour for the foreseeable future, he seemed entirely confident and in control."

Caitlin Moran, the Times: "When he revealed his new tattoo ‹ a Take That logo on his wrist ‹ you could feel dozens of pink hen-night hats being taken out of storage, in advance of the now-inevitable Take That reunion." ·