by Lara Leon-Cullen
Although they have probably passed the stage of being legitimately described as a "boyband", Irish superstars Westlife left no one in any doubt that they still have what it takes when they played the Nottingham Arena.
Supported by the lacklustre Wonderland a girl band manufactured by Louis Walsh and Westlife's Kian Egan (to whom one of the band just happens to be married), the band smacked of desperation to become the next big thing, though sadly they appeared to lack the talent and charm to be likely to ever reach that goal.
The devoted Westlife audience sat patiently through the five or six numbers that Wonderland inflicted upon them but sprang to life as soon as the celtic foursome landed, literally, on the stage seeing as they descended from the ceiling on large wooden chairs supported by wires.
The lads dressed in smart suits and top hats reeled through their back catalogue of 14 number one hits and 9 albums starting off with a catchy performance of When You're Looking Like That which had the predominantely female audience on their feets and screaming like they did when Westlife first hit the scene all those years ago.
Kudos to the band who didn't stick to the safe ballads sung from high stools as they're perhaps known for and instead mixed the set up considerably, throwing in some interesting covers and a medley comprised of tracks ranging from Rihanna to Coldplay to Lady Gaga. All the while they delivered a visually spectacular show complete with pyro, special effects and, bizarrely, giant fruits that all ensured the crowd got value for every penny they spent on their tickets.
Although Westlife have their fair share of critics and are unlikely to release any groundbreaking new material any time soon it's clear to see that they have still got their audience eating from the palms of their hands and lapping up every melody the boys care to sing. Judging by the beams on the faces of the Nottingham crowd they can and did no wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment