Review of Robbie Williams: What We Did Last Summer

Introduction

On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd August 2003, Robbie Williams played to about 375,000 fans who all squeezed their way into and out of an overcrowded Knebworth. I know this because I was lucky enough to be one of them, and my experience even prompted a column entry on the subject. I also speculated (although it was pretty obvious really) that there would be a DVD release in time for Xmas. And there was. And it sold loads, becoming the fastest selling music DVD ever.

The performance on 3rd August 2003 was broadcast live on Radio 1. The performance on 2rd August 2003 was broadcast "as live" on Channel 4 (and has been repeated often since). The performance on 1st August 2003 is the one that largely features on this 2 disc DVD set. Here`s the set list:-

Let Me Entertain You
Let Love Be Your Energy
Monsoon
Come Undone
Strong
Me & My Monkey
Hot Fudge
Mr Bojangles
She`s The One
Love Supreme
No Regrets
Kids
A Better Man
Nan`s Song
Feel
Rock DJ
Angels

The only real song missing there is Millennium, which was performed on Sunday night only. Sadly it doesn`t feature elsewhere on the disc (a shame as I think it`s a great song), although Back For Good (with special guest who appeared on Sunday only) features on disc 2.

Video

A 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer greets us, which is as it was filmed for the TV broadcast too. It was filmed in High Definition and this has resulted in an excellent transfer. It`s not true High Definition of course, but it`s still a damn good picture for a standard DVD. Colours are excellent and everything is pin sharp.

Visually this is a concert DVD so you know what to expect, a very big stage with a load of stuff going on, from musicians to dancers to a massive screen at the back filled with various images. And there are a lot of cameras too, whether sweeping over the crowd, filming from a helicopter or right up on stage filming close up.

Audio

A choice of 3 soundtracks, in ascending order of excellence:- DD2.0 stereo, DD5.1 and dts. All of the tracks sound excellent (best played loud of course), but the dts track has the edge. Most of the songs sparkle in their live versions, with improvements over most of the studio versions of the tracks. There are times when the musicians feel a little "reined in" in a kind of "don`t go mad, this is Robbie`s show not yours", and you do wish they could have been let loose on a few more solos, but at the end of the day it`s all good.

Features

Disc 2 has a nice little selection of extras to add to the performance on disc 1.

We start off with a short featurette with backstage footage which offers some insight into what goes on before and after the concert, some fan diaries, which give a very brief account of a day in the life of 2 sets of fans who went to the concerts, and the short Unicef film that was playing during the day.

You can also flick through the photo gallery, watch some very interesting time lapse footage (showing the rise and fall of the whole shebang at Knebworth) and also trailers for 4 other Robbie DVDs.

Finally, there`s an interactive game - shoot the rogue Robbie, to reveal more snippets of footage from backstage, rehearsals and more. And you`ll also get Sunday night`s performance of Back For Good with special guest (who seems scared to be in front of so many people) Mark Owen.

There`s also a smattering of DVD ROM content - sound clips from the show and some wallpaper.

Conclusion

Pretty simple really. If you were there, you`ll want to buy this. If you`re a fan and you weren`t there, you`ll want to buy this. If you only have a hissy, recorded off the telly VHS copy, you`ll want to buy this. It`s the nearest you`ll get to actually being there. To recreate the experience more fully I suggest that you:-

Leave home at about 10am
Drive around in a car for about 3 hours
Park in a field away from your house.
Walk a couple of miles back to your house.
Sit down in the middle of the lounge. Maybe put some litter around the room.
Put a Darkness CD on.
Sit around a bit.
Put a Kelly Osbourne CD on and either ignore it totally or shout rude things at it.
Sit around a bit.
Put an Ash CD on. Enjoy it.
Sit around a bit.
Put a Moby CD on, enjoy it some more.
Sit around a bit.
Scream and shout a lot, then put this DVD on.
Watch and listen intently.
Enjoy yourself.
Remove the DVD.
Walk back to your car, preferably through a field strewn with litter, and past people selling bootleg merchandise.
Sit in your car for 2 hours and don`t move until about 2AM.
Drive around for 2 hours.
Arrive home at 4AM.

I refer back to the closing paragraph from my column on the subject, when I magically predicted that my DVD review would finish thus:-

One for Robbie Williams fans everywhere, from those who wish to marry him and have his babies, to the more casual fan. If you missed the concert in person, this should at least give you a taste of what it was like to be at the biggest concerts of 2003.