Westlife returned to the Glasgow this week to celebrate their twentieth anniversary and the release of their new album Spectrum, out this month. Following a six year break, the comeback tour has sold over half a million seats across UK and Ireland as their fans still want to see Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, and Shane Filan, who racked up seven consecutive UK No1 hits in their heyday.
Opening for the boys was 15 year old Keelie Walker from Nashville, Tennessee who was a bundle of pop energy in hot pink trousers and a ponytail reminiscent of a young Britney Spears.
Fresh from a tour with Jason Derulo, Keelie was no stranger to the arena audience as she performed all of her recent dance hit releases including Loud and Pieces with slick choreography which was more Ibiza dance scene than mainstream pop.
Her new single Not You had a catchy vibe which got the audience dancing as they waited for Westlife to arrive.
It may have been twenty years since they were top of the charts, but the roars and screams from the audience as the Irish quartet stormed on stage to their new single, written by Ed Sheeran, proved that Glasgow was delighted to welcome them back.
The slick production worked through all their classic hits including Swear it Again, What About Now, When You’re Looking Like That and If I Let You Go to deafening cheers.
The staging included huge computerised screen and plenty of flames and confetti peppered throughout, yet fairly simple choreography and no backing dancers. In fairness, they weren’t known for being the best dancers back in the day.
It was clear that the success of this show and atmosphere in the audience was in part due to nostalgia for the last two decades. It’s a powerful force in music right now.
Aside from their chart topping hits, the Westlifes were most famous for performing on bar stools on stage – which normally involved a dramatic rise to their feet when the key change hit. So, of course, they assumed their signature position to perform acoustic versions of tracks including Unbreakable, Fool Again and Queen of My Heart.
It was clear at this point that many of the older fans who had been at their first concerts as hysterical teenagers, were now here with their children to share memories and introduce Westlife to a new generation.
By the time the finale reached us with World of Our Own, even the more reluctant partners dragged along to the show were on their feet dancing.
The boy band may have made the transition into man band status, but the show goes on like before.