Burslem Boy

Managed to get some late tickets from a good friend for the first gig at League Two promotees Port Vale.

Port Vale is a unique football club, the only league side that is not named after a real place.

It's actually in Burslem, which is one of the six towns that now makes up Stoke on Trent, that isn't a real place either.

So, so far so good.

Robbie Williams, the now 48 year old, ex boy band member and global superstar (I suppose that's what he is) is however real, and grew up in Burslem and this is his footy team.

So no Wembley show, no arena, no legendary venue, for his homecoming one off gig just back to Port Vale.

20,000 mainly locals seemed to be filling the place in a good natured and well put on show.

Robbie's great and all that but Guy Chambers, playing keys, his co-writer, producer and friend is the driving force and the musical know how behind it all. But, no one knows where he comes from - Liverpool - and if he's a red or blue.

I met Guy in the students union at Newcastle in 1990 when playing keyboards for World Party. Go and look them up, they're one lost to the past but fantastic.

She's the One is actually a World Party track, won and Ivor Novello, written by Karl Wallinger. Robbies version is almost an exact copy. At one of their gigs, Karl remarked that he thought 'Mr Wilson' was 'great' [royalities] but that he would never know who she was...

It's Karl's mum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She%27s_the_One_(World_Party_song) ...provides some more detail and shows you should never beleive a showman when he says something!

Anyway, a great gig, and a fun day out. He looked to be having a ball singing to his own people, and genuinely emotional.

Could have brought the LA weather though as it was freezing!