Its been a long time coming but for the first ever Westlife tour the fans are out in droves. A Madonna-esque T-shirt with your fave member's name emblazoned across the front is THE thing to be seen in when the video of I Lay My Love On You pops up on the screens to kick things off. A Matrix-style set with an industrial feel welcomes Ireland's finest as they drop from suspension wires in chunky black armour for Dreams Come True... we're truly knocked out - Westlife are dancing! And for the rest of the show their tootsies never stop. There's not a stool in sight the whole evening, even for the mushy numbers like Swear It Again and Seasons In The Sun. High jinks capers, mostly from Bryan, who apologises for having a sore throat, keeps the entertainment on a high. As does the random pretend unzipping of their trousers at various points.
Huge guitar riffs transform When You're Looking Like That into a show-stopping moment as the sexy backing dancers get jiggy in their sauciest clobber, with the 'Life drooling in time. There's no solo songs as such, apart from a few bars of Wild Thing from Kian, which only lasts until his chums haul him away from the mic. But it is fab to hear individual vocals from all the lads on You Make Me Feel. They even take a tongue-in-cheek jib at themselves by nicking prop violins and a guitar and playing them like a 'real' band.
In the encore of Flying Without Wings they're strapped into a huge metal frame, which lifts them through the crowd, and their vocals have never sounded more angelic. Mark in particular excels on the high notes. Tonight proves exactly why Westlife deserve all those No 1's. If you thought the phenomena would be due to halt soon, forget it. Westlife's rule on the world of pop has barely begun.
