ROBBIE WILLIAMS has revealed that he “hated” his last sell-out tour of the UK and never wants to do it again – despite the rabid demand for tickets for his recently-announced stadium shows next summer.
In an interview with Radio 1, he said: “I went to Reading and did the warm-up show and there were 2,000 people. Even that’s a massive venue, but it was really intimate. Then I got sick and the rest of the tour I just hated. I think people went home happy, though. I hope they did.”
Last weekend, 100,000 tickets for two extra Robbie shows in Manchester next summer sold out within an hour, and demand has been vast. Tickets for the four gigs originally announced sold out so quickly that additional dates had to be added.
The dates announced so far for next summer are:
Cardiff Millennium Stadium (July 14, 15)
Milton Keynes National Bowl (21, 22)
Manchester Lancashire Cricket Club (27, 28, 29)
Glasgow Hampden Park (August 4, 5)
However, despite the growing list of dates, Robbie said he doesn’t want to end up on the treadmill again, as happened on his last tour.
“I don’t think I’ll ever do a tour again where I’m in the same venue for six days. I learnt that I can’t do three gigs on the trot because I’m not physically fit enough to exert the energy that I’m giving out. If I’m getting on stage with enough rest, then I’ll love the gig, the audience will love the gig and everyone will go home happy. But if I’m ill, I’m just going to hate it.”
He also apologised for his drunken brawl at an after-show party following the MTV Europe Awards in Stockholm last month, putting it down to “a sambuca too far”. He got into a fight with producer Nellee Hooper, but said he now regrets the incident: “I don’t think anything should ever come to blows, contrary to the stance I’ve taken on how I think I’m hard just recently. I really apologise for it, it was a sambuca too far and now he won’t return my calls.”