Robbie Williams, London Palladium, review Subtlety was off the agenda. During the duet Swings Both Ways, Rufus Wainwright sang "Everybody swings both ways, face it Robbie you're a little bit gay." Lest anyone was in any doubt about the song's meaning, the men climbed into giant closets wearing black suits and came out of them moments later wearing pink top hats and tails. They literally came out of the closets. In pink. As you'd expect from Williams, the show was knowing and fun. In front of an invited audience including Adele and members of One Direction, he made jokes about former girlfriend Geri Halliwell, spells in rehab and the old days when he was "really famous." Robbie Williams gets into the swing of things at the London Palladium. Photo: Simon Niblett/IE Music Go Gentle, a love song to his daughter Teddy, even managed to be genuinely moving. This was no mean feat given that he sang it from a hydraulic crane carrying him over the audience's heads. For a man who sold out Wembley Stadium four times this summer, Williams seems oddly determined for Swings Both Ways to be as big as its 2001 predecessor. You get the impression that he has thrown everything at this campaign. As well as featuring duets with Allen, Wainwright, Kelly Clarkson, Michael Bublé and, er, Olly Murs, the album contains songs once again co-written by Guy Chambers, the man behind his biggest hits. What this show essentially amounted to was a (soon-to-be) televised attempt at myth creation, or - for the converted - myth bolstering. As he duetted with his father, Peter, the Williams men listed people who had played the Palladium. "Morecambe and Wise," "Frank Sinatra," "Robbie Williams." It was a fabulously entertaining evening but he's not quite in Ol' Blue Eyes's league yet. See TelegraphTickets for more Robbie Williams tour dates