Westlife raise up their story

For the past couple of weeks, the No 1 position in the Non-Fiction Bestsellers chart in Britain has been occupied by the Westlife autobiography. It knocked Jordan’s Pushed to the Limit off the top spot, no mean feat. So it’s a huge seller, both in Britain and here, whatever any critic might say. But the question remains, is it any good?

Well, given that this is billed as Westlife in their own words, the clean-cut quartet are actually quite forthcoming in their revelations. We learn of excess cursing, excess boozing and even one member throwing up in a strategically-placed bucket just before going on stage, so bad was his hangover.

So far, so promising, but the disadvantage of this being an official biography means that Westlife can leave out and leave in exactly what they want to. Hence there are no revelations on groupies or any other very bad behaviour. The old motto of “what happens on the road, stays on the road” obviously prevails here.

There is hardly any mention of sex (except when Mark steps gaily out of the closet, new boyfriend Kevin in hand), hardly any drugs (Mark was once offered coke in London’s Met Bar but turned it down) and as for rock ‘n’ roll? Forget it.

Written in a chatty, easy style, it moves along swiftly with passages from Nicky, Kian, Mark and Shane. So just when you’re getting bored with one, another comes along with a fresh story about their struggle to get to the toppermost of the poppermost and how to stay there.

It kicks off with Kian, Mark and Shane growing up in Sligo and how they were forced to ditch two close childhood pals from the original line-up.

But the wailing and gnashing of teeth soon passes. At the same time, Nicky Byrne was back in Dublin cooling his heels after being rejected by Leeds United as a goalkeeper because he failed to gain the required extra few inches in his late teens. Girlfriend Georgina Ahern heard how Louis Walsh was looking for two new members for a boy band he was putting together. She encouraged him to apply and he got the job, as did fellow Dubliner, Brian McFadden.

It’s all here in minute detail, just about everything every Westlife fan could want to know, from the birth of Shane and Nicky’s babies, to Nicky crying when Mark revealed he was gay to Kian getting slightly carried away when Louis appointed him the contact person in the band and something akin to being their spokesman.

But while Louis guided the boy band to unbelievable fame and fortune, it wasn’t without some big bumps and huge hiccups along the way. Kian revealed:

“He’s quit as our manager on more than one occasion. I remember one of the first times was when we all turned up late for a meeting in Sweden. He told us: ‘You were like a bunch of spoilt kids on the plane on the way over. You all arrived down here in dribs and drabs. You don’t realise what you have. Your attitude stinks.’ We managed to apologise to him, but it was quite a scare.”

There was more trouble when Ronan Keating — then co-managing the band — told Louis how Westlife had snubbed fans at an airport, refusing to sign autographs. Cue another lecture and threats of resignation by big boss, Louis. But it too was smoothed over and, not surprisingly, Ronan the Snitch was soon no longer involved in co-managing them!

Each band member shares a selection of personal photographs from their youth right up to the present day. After 10 years at the top Westlife have no intentions of calling it a day and are expected to get back together again early in 2009 to begin picking songs for a new album.

All four members emerge well from the book, coming across as likeable enough young guys who got extremely lucky — and know it. Some egos became seriously over-sized as the band’s initial success kicked in, but they were soon cut down to size. But, whatever else, they have been well-groomed by Walsh to appreciate what they have and to be nice to the people they’ve met on the way up.

While the book certainly won’t win any major prizes for literature, it has been enthusiastically received by fans, knocking Jordan’s latest off the top of the best-sellers chart in Britain. But, for some reason, it hasn’t topped the Irish book charts.

While it also won’t win over any new converts to their rather bland, ballad-based and anodyne music, Westlife — Our Story is just what the fans ordered to see them through those long, lonely months while the band take a well-deserved break from their always hectic schedule. This one will sell and sell.

- RICHIE TAYLOR

source: independent.ie

Nicky in Soccer Aid

Good news for soccer fans and of course Nicky fans… Our boy will be at the Soccer Aid this year. I’m looking forward to the videos and pictures.

Soccer Aid is one of the most exciting charity events of the year, and Nicky is thrilled to be taking part in the 2008 match.

The hotly-anticipated game will be a face-off between two teams comprising World Cup legends and celebrities, and will be played at Wembley Stadium. Harry Redknapp captains the England team, with Gareth Gates, Jamie Theakston and Jonathan Wilkes on board, while Kenny Dalglish helms the Rest of The World team, with Patrick Kielty, Jesse Metcalfe and Brian Lara appearing alongside Nicky.

Soccer Aid is held in aid of UNICEF and its partners, and was originated by Robbie Williams. The match takes place on 7th September, and you can find out more about the squad, TV coverage, and how to buy tickets to the game itself, on ITV’s website HERE.

Good luck Nicky!

source: westlife.com

Hello from Nicky

First of all check out the Photo Archive for some big updates on most of the albums and I have a little message from our fave westlife lad:

Hello!

First up, I wanted to say a massive, massive thank you on behalf of myself and the rest of the lads for making this tour one of the most enjoyable for us ever. The crowds were amazing each and every night and we were completely blown away by your support. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!!

As you know, the tour has now finished and we’re all taking some time out to recharge our batteries. We’ll be spending the next year chilling out with friends and family and having some holiday time. Nobody has any massive plans, except Shane, who reckons he’s spending the whole year on the golf course!! Not sure what Gillian will have to say about that… I’m sure he’ll put the clubs down for a while when the baby’s born!

Don’t worry, we’ll be coming back fully-refreshed and better than ever before you know it!

Love
Nicky

source: Westlife.com

Get the chips in, Tony lad

WESTLIFE celebrated the end of their successful UK tour with a big night out in Liverpool, but the lads proved they’re not all about the caviar lifestyle.

When the munchies struck, Insider hears the Irish lads had a special request for one of the bar staff at Kingdom – for a Chinese takeaway!

Tony Mahoney duly obliged, nipping out to Victoria Street and returning laden down with cartons and carrier bags full of Chinese food for the hungry band, who rewarded him with a hefty tip.

The banquet rounded off a great night for Westlife who, together with their other halves, headed to the VIP area of Kingdom after their Summer Pops gig.

The boy band, who recently performed at the Rooney wedding, attracted large crowds as word got out the lads were out on the lash.

But it wasn’t just the fans who were pleased to see the boys in Liverpool – the four-piece and their partners couldn’t have been happier to be back.

Former Hollyoaks’ actress and ex-girl band singer Jodi Albert, who is engaged to Westlife star Kian Egan, told Insider: “We love coming back to Liverpool. The fans here are fantastic and the band always gets the biggest reception.

“All the boys were really excited to be back. Kian and I spend a lot of time in the city and whenever we come back it makes me miss it.

“This was the last show of the current tour before they take a year out, so we all planned to celebrate with a big night out.�

Mat Cunningham from Kingdom says security was increased for the group’s visit.

“We got a call from the band’s manager to say Kingdom had been recommended and Westlife wanted to come here to celebrate 10 years together and announce they are having a break.

“While most of the group sipped on our most expensive champagne, the ladies specifically asked for Cosmopolitans. At around 1am the ladies asked us to bring out the cake that they had made for Mark, Shane, Kian and Nicky, which was a chocolate sponge with a number 10 on the top. We put some sparklers on it and they presented to them as a surprise. It was a fantastic moment.”

source: liverpool echo.co.uk

Icons

I made two new icons for our graphics archive. I know updates are running slow but I’m doing my best to catch up.

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Westlife at Home Park, Plymouth

HOME Park was again rocked Saturday night when Westlife performed to a packed stadium as part of the Plymouth Summer Festival.

Thousands of fans of all ages flocked through the turnstiles of Plymouth Argyle to catch the boys from Ireland in action.

Warming up the crowd for the boys were The Acutones from Glasgow who were finalists of AYRPLAY 2008, Scotland’s Burn’s Showcase for New Bands Competition.

Also in support was Simon Webbe, ex-member of boyband Blue, who I was lucky enough to meet. His set included some of his more well-known hits such as Lay Your Hands, No Worries and Coming Around Again. Fans were also treated to a performance of Simon’s latest number Public, which he doesn’t know if it is going to released.

And then just after 9pm Shane, Mark, Nicky and Kian were revealed from behind a screen of lights, much the the crowds delight.

Dressed in black with black gloves and sporting Maverick style sunglasses, the boys opened their show with Hit You With The Real Thing from their seventh album Face to Face. World of Our Own followed and the black outfits were ripped off to reveal black suits and black ties.

Fans lapped up all the boys had to offer and the hits just kept on coming.

It was a mixture of their old material and their new which worked brilliantly together.

What Makes a Man, the classic and upbeat Uptown Girl, If I Let You Go and a rendition of Mandy, originally a hit for Barry Manilow in 1974, were the next tunes to be belted out.

After another outfit change, Nicky came on stage wearing a Plymouth Argyle home shirt with the number ‘12′ and ‘Green Army’ printed on it, to perform a mix of Justine Timberlake’s Sexy Back, The Jackson Five’s Blame it on The Boogie, Blue’s Get Down on it and Wham’s I’m Your Man.

The crowd were treated to some simple, but none the less effective, pyrotechnics when they did their version of Robbie Williams’ Let Me Entertain You. Then they did an accoustic medley of Unbreakable, Tonight and Fool Again, which was stunning.

Catch My Breath and their latest single Home from their new album were next. It was at this point that Shane instructed the fans to get out their mobiles and “light ‘em up”. Looking out over the floor area you could see a sea of LED screens being held in the air.

The lads were happy playing the crowd and had them chanting “Who r ya” and “Green Army’ before they told the lighting technicians to dim the lights so fans could get a photo which they posed for.

Swear it Again, their first number one back in 1998, was well received and the crowd were swaying and singing along with the boys.

The show lasted over an hour-and-a-half and was brought to a close with Flying Without Wings. The boys said their goodnights, the stage darkened and they were gone. Crowds started to disperse and that was that. Wrong. “More” was asked for and “more” was what they got.

Dressed in white dinner suits and black shirts the boys returned to the stage and performed two more hits; When You’re Looking Like That and You Raise Me Up, which brought the show to an end - and what a show it was.

Pop, rock, RnB and classic ballads were the order of the night. And then there was the superb, but slightly cheesy, choreography apparent in their dance routines.

This tour, titled ‘10 Years‘, is their eighth tour and they are on album number nine, and even though they have a combined age of 113, they are still very much a boyband who have a dedicated and loyal following.

They ended their tour in Liverpool Sundaylast night and are now on a much needed break, a year break in fact. But the boys assure us they are not breaking up and will be back on tour in two years. Will Plymouth be on that bill? Who knows, but after Saturday’s performance they will be very welcome.

source: thisisplymouth.co.uk

Westlife kick off the Summer Pops

Boyband Westlife will be returning to the Summer Pops on Sunday for a one-off special show.

Westlife have chosen to finish their current UK tour at the first night of this year’s Liverpool Summer Pops.

Band member Shane Filan said; “It’s great to be coming back to the Pops, it’s become almost a tradition for us now, this will be our fourth Pops show. The Liverpool fans are always really up for it, and we get a great reaction, we look forward to putting on a very special show for the fans.”

On Tuesday for the first time singer-songwriter, Mick Hucknall, is stepping out from Simply Red, and has announced a Summer Pops show in support of his debut solo studio album ‘Tribute To Bobby.’

And on Wednesday Grammy Award winner Meat Loaf will be bringing the biggest tunes, the biggest noise and the biggest voice to this year’s Summer Pops.

The UK’s most successful girl band, Sugababes, will be returning to the Summer Pops along with legendary ABBA tribute, Bjorn Again on Thursday.

On Friday The Australian Pink Floyd Show will perform two classic albums and a ‘fans request’ set.

source: thisisplymouth.co.uk