A MALFUNCTIONING stage prop proved a handy scapegoat, but Robbie Williams had only himself to blame for a disappointing start to his European tour, which reaches Britain at the start of September.

A performance that lacked passion until the last 20 minutes suggested that the singer would prefer to stay at home rather than play for more than 80,000 fans in Dublin.

At the end of the evening, when the sole big stunt of his show let him down — he was meant to descend from a high-rise walkway in a gondola, but it wouldn’t move — Williams promised to return to the city to play a free concert by way of compensation. Compensation for the gondola or for the gig? Some assumed that it was the former, but the man widely regarded as pop’s premier entertainer has never needed stunts to put on a good show.

Radio and Rock DJ were wearily reeled out as the show’s openers, with Williams occasionally making his way to a small second stage out in the crowd. Once there, though, he didn’t seem sure what to do and tended to beat a hasty retreat back to his band, or to blend in between five backing singers.

He didn’t look too healthy either, and by a terrible Tripping he was dripping in sweat, shown in scary close-up on the big screens. After only ten minutes he said: “I’m 32 and I’m f**kin’ knackered.” He should have tried taking his coat off.

Williams continued to search — although not very hard — for the showman inside during Monsoon, Trouble With Me and the dreary recent single Sin Sin Sin. Then, just after Millennium had prompted an increase in energy levels and an acoustic guitar-backed Pure provided his first beguiling vocal of the night, on walked Jonathan Wilkes to duet on a shockingly soppy showtune rendition of Me & My Shadow.

Robbie may well need a mate right now, but he shouldn’t parade them in public. Some company, however, seemed to suit him, and by Strong he was finally finding his feet.

It was Take That’s Back For Good that really got the gig going, despite Williams dousing his ex-bandmates’ hopes of a guest appearance on their reunion tour — sorry guys, he says he’s too busy. Even better was Come Undone — the only track to make sufficient use of four guitarists — which segued seamlessly into Walk On the Wild Side.

A fabulous Feel then closed the show, with Williams disappearing through a hole in the stage. He reappeared up on the walkway for an encore of Let Me Entertain You, where he suffered his Spinal Tap-style gondola moment.

Funnily enough, it was when the stunt went wrong that Williams finally turned the charm up to ten and seemed like a real superstar. Suddenly, he had a challenge on his hands, if only to get down without looking silly. The rest of the time, it was all too easy. The gig was poor, yet the crowd still screamed for every song.

Robbie Williams doesn’t have to try anymore, but that’s no excuse.

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