IT’S easy to be snobby about the musical credentials of boybands like Westlife. But 12 number ones, three Records of the Year and maintaining their seven-year momentum despite the loss of enigmatic band member Brian McFadden means you have to admire their will to survive in the fickle pop world.
At the M.E.N. Arena on Saturday night the boys certainly arrived like prize fighters to the boxing ring, marching spot-lit and Rocky-like through the adoring audience before making an emphatic opening with Uptown Girl.
Dubbed the Numbers Ones tour, they sailed through their biggest hits with nifty dance moves and trademark Celtic humour.Yes, the effects of hundreds of flickering candles, floaty strips of voile and cascading dry ice are cheesier than cheese on toast, but that’s what the fans pay up for.
Westlife know what their audience expects, and instead of worrying about that cheese factor simply deliver themselves on stage in the most entertaining ways possible, with moving renditions of Unbreakable and Swear It Again and transforming the stage into a 1950s Las Vegas bar to perform their recent rat-pack revivals including Mack the Knife and the stunning Smile.
FINALE
They are unfairly stereotyped as the sort of band who sit on high chairs only to rise for the dramatic finale to their songs. The lads even manage to convincingly rock out, jive and boogie, particularly in their tribute to other bands’ big hits.
Mark Feehily, who always seems the tortured soul of the band, capped a stunning vocal performance with funky versions of Disco Inferno and a great Michael Jackson impression on Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough, while Shane Filan led a rip-roaring Footloose.
Some believe such a greatest hits tour spells the end for Westlife but their enthusiasm seems undimmed, and chirpy Nicky Byrne tells the adoring masses that after seven years of success, another seven would be nice.
Flying Without Wings remains their big finale song, but was a strangely muted conclusion to a great night of foot-tapping fun.
