Robbie Williams chats ahead of his gig at Ricoh Arena, Coventry

For despite playing to such massive crowds with his solo shows, and as part of Take That’s Progress Live tour, he is still blown away every time he steps out.

“Oh there is definitely an element of awe, that never stops. It never becomes ‘Oh yeah, I’m playing a stadium tonight’. It’s always, for me – I can’t speak for other acts – but it’s overwhelming and terrifying and I take being the conduit to people’s good times very seriously and there’s an awful lot of them! So yes, you never stop being in awe of the situation.”

Robbie released The Heavy Entertainment Show and it was written in mind to be performed live. There are numerous songs that he’s looking forward to translating to a stadium setting?

“Yes definitely – ‘Mixed Signals’ which is the song that The Killers wrote. Gratefully they gave it to me, so I’m looking forward to singing it in a stadium. I’m looking forward to singing ‘Party like a Russian’ – in Russia! That’ll quite be a moment.”

Creating a stadium show is a huge undertaking involving a vast crew of workers. Robbie involves himself in the process and hopes to take the show around the world.

“Well, you have a few ideas and then you employ someone who’s incredibly creative to enlarge your ideas and that’s what I done with Es Devlin, who is producing the stadium tour as we speak which is incredible.

“Yes, not just Europe – everywhere! Maybe South America too, I’m sure we’ll be in Australia – everywhere apart from North America.”

It was 20 years ago that Robbie released his debut solo album. He’s moved on in his life, settling down and taking time out with his family. But he still enjoys giving his older songs a work out when he hits the stage.

“With live stuff I always take the stance that I’m not there to be entertained, and people want to hear the stuff that they’re most familiar with. So it doesn’t matter how I feel about it.”

He wouldn’t offer the younger Robbie any advice, either. He thinks he’s made a good fist of it.

“What advice would I give to myself when I was releasing my debut album? I wouldn’t give myself any advice when I was releasing my debut album, I’d give myself advice six albums in, and say ‘don’t over think this’. Just don’t over think; at one point I thought it was more important to be interesting than actually good. If I could go back in time and just say ‘Look, just do big songs. People love it, you love it, just don’t over-think this’.”

A lot of Robbie’s tracks have almost taken on a life of their own because they’ve become like a soundtrack of fans’ lives. First dance at a wedding or a song that reminds them of a particular occasion, so many Robbie songs connect – and the singer takes that into consideration.

“I take that into consideration yes, because I’m the vocal point of attention and it feels disastrous when you lose the energy of 80,000 people. I’m a big believer in giving them what they want, because I know what I want as an audience member. If I go to somebody’s show and I don’t know three songs in a row, I’m bored. I go to somebody’s show and I don’t know four songs in a row, I want to go home! I know what I want, even with big, big heritage named artists, I’ve been to gigs and gone ‘I’m really bored’. I know what is demanded of me and I can’t wait to do that.”

Robbie has an avid fan base who keep coming back to see him again because of the fact they know that when they go to his shows they’re going to have a fantastic time.

“It would appear so! You know, it’s very difficult to have an objective view of what you do. I get on and I faff about to my best abilities! And they enjoy themselves and they come back and they want to watch me do it again.”

His favourite song to perform remains Angels.

“Angels’ because it’s the last one! Also the adrenaline of Let Me Entertain You. . . it’s like I’m saying ‘Coming, Ready or Not!’ for me and for the audience.”

Robbie enjoys the bands he plays alongside, including his present special guest Erasure and previous support Olly Murs. He’s glad to be playing to new venues – including Coventry’s Ricoh, which gives him a rare chance to play for West Midlands fans.

SINGS

“I’m the guy at the front that just sings and my career and life is on rails. They put me in a car and I turn up, and if they say I’m going to Coventry, then I’m going to Coventry!”

The singer listens to plenty of new music – but, equally, he likes to switch off when he gets a little downtime. As often as not, he tunes into listen to sports stations, instead of BBC Radio 1.

“I listen to TalkSport! I genuinely do, and I listen to whatever I’ve just written try to think of how I could make it better, how I could whittle it and then when it’s whittled enough I then think of what album it’s going to go on, how it’s going to go on it, when, where. But apart from that, I like John Grant, he’s the last artist I took real notice of.”

Robbie keeps in touch with his old mates from Take That and feels proud to have been part of the band. He has fond memories of performing The Flood, the first song the band released as a five-piece when he came back the second time. “That was, it meant you know. . . it reminded how great it was as a song and that was more powerful than whatever time it came out at. It was just like ‘Wow, we did this, be proud’.”

He’s sure they’ll line up together again. “There’s an invisible cord that keeps pulling us back, and it’s a cord I’m quite happy that the universe tugs occasionally. Absolutely. I would, if I was a betting man I would bet on that.”