How quickly times change. It's easy to imagine a day (like, a month ago) when a onceuponatime boy-band star trafficking in lighter-than-Oasis-style pop would send jaded rock critics scampering to replenish their credibility cards at the nearest Guided By Voices show. But a small group of scribes and publicists at the South by Southwest music festival was treated to a stadium-in-a-small-circus-tent performance by former Take That member Robbie Williams last Friday night at the tiny Club DeVille. And they ate up every guilty pleasure-filled moment. |

The charismatic fireplug of a singer -- who's a much-beloved multiplatinum superstar in Europe -- has made much of his desire to conquer America. Fittingly, his upcoming Capitol Records debut, due out on May 4, is called The Ego Has Landed. On this evening, Williams laid his battle plans out for all to see.

As his capable, almost-edgy band lit into the opening riff of the credo-track "Let Me Entertain You," bazillion-watt floods exploded across the patio and the handful of fans disappeared into the glare, arms thrust into the air. As Williams strutted to and fro, screwing his mildly generic face into alternating self-mocking/I'm-the-shit expressions, it was easy to feel lost in a sea of thousands on the floor of Madison Square Garden. When the lights faded, it was just as easy to be hooked by his undeniably infectious songs.

Seamless pop numbers like the What's the Story-worthy "Strong" and Elton John-by-way-of-Axl-Rose "Angels" were consumed like a gooey Cadbury bar. It seemed that even those not won-over by William's blatantly derivative music were helpless before his self-deprecating stage-side manner. He was particularly winning when he ran the crowd through a practice run of a song so they'd know where to applaud -- after he mocked audience members for pretending to sing along, he said he kind of liked the gibberish and would try to work it into upcoming shows.

It almost seems a foregone conclusion that this late-twentieth-century comeback kid would have a fin de siecle anthem -- of course, that doesn't mean it won't make you sing in your shower. As Williams crooned the chorus to the single "Millennium" -- "we've got stars directing our fate and we're praying it's not too late" -- lighters popped into the air and a mini-chorus of industry folks mouthed along. Whether the critics -- and America at large -- will be doing the same come summer is another story, but Williams' musical Viagra seemed to work wonders in its Texas trial run.

JOE ROSENTHAL(March 22, 1999)