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No change, and it's for the better
Westlife: Ashton Gate
THERE are some things
you can bet your mortgage
that Westlife will do at a concert.
Brilliant key changes,
numerous costumes and
slick dance routines are
the glue that has held
Mark Feehily, Shane Filan,
Kian Egan and
Nicky Byrne
together over
these past 12 years.
What has changed about
Westlife is the appearance
of electric guitars in their set,
one of which Nicky
played during an
inspired cover of
Sex On Fire by Kings of Leon.
Featuring more
electric guitars were Bristol's very own
The Fuel, who had won
an Evening Post competition
to be first support
act here and they
savoured every minute.
With their long flowing hair
and confident swaggers,
this is the kind of
stage these boys belong on.
The second support
act was Wonderland,
an immaculately styled
girlband managed
by Kian and Louis Walsh.
Westlife appeared on the stage
in front of
the Atyeo Stand to rapturous applause,
launching straight into Where We Are,
the title track from their latest album.
Pyrotechnics were fired into the air,
and returned two songs later
for When You're Looking Like That,
when
the band members
could first show off their dance moves.
These dance moves
returned for Uptown Girl,
a cover of the Billy Joel classic
which Westlife released as
a charity single for Comic Relief in 2001.
What followed can only be described
as a comedy interlude,
as Nicky told a joke about
Ryanair boss
Michael O'Leary and then
read out some of the
banners in the crowd.
If people still carried lighters to concerts,
they would have been in
the air for Flying Without Wings.
This is 2010, so a vuvuzela blown by
one fan joined the calls
for an encore, which
Westlife appeared for in
Rat Pack-style suits
to sing
I'll See You Again and
You Raise Me Up.
This was a fantastic concert
by a band who adapt with
the times but never change
the aspects that made them
one of the most successful
and popular acts of all time.
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