AFTER reuniting as a group last year, Irish pop group Westlife will embark on a tour, dubbed The Twenty Tour, beginning July across seven Asian cities including Kuala Lumpur. The boyband, which comprises Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne and Mark Feehily, will be performing on Aug 8 and 9, at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam.
Their regional tour will kick off in Bangkok, followed by Macau, Taipei, Manila, Jakarta, and Shah Alam, before concluding in Singapore.
Known for hits like I Lay My Love On You, Swear It Again and If I Let You Go, Westlife last performed in Malaysia in 2011 for its Gravity Tour.
Last Jan 20, lead singer Filan serenaded some 10,000 fans at the Elmina Lakeside Concert in Elmina Central Park, Sungai Buloh, Shah Alam.
Below, Feehily and Filan share more about the group’s August concert.
HOW EXCITED ARE YOU FOR THIS TOUR AND WHAT HAVE THE PREPARATIONS BEEN LIKE?
Feehily: I’m honestly very excited as it has been a long time since we were all out there together. We’re going to have a big party on stage. Everyone is just so happy, we love it, the fans love it — it’s going to be amazing.
As for the preparations, we are very much involved in the creative process of our concerts, as we have been previously. This is important to us because in the beginning, the record label had so much control over our music (which we were happy about), but we always had full control for our concerts.
We sat down for hours and months to brainstorm. We are very involved with what we wear on stage, what the set list is going to be like, the lighting, the merchandise and more. I am a very creative person, so I love that creative process of putting together everything.
IS THE PRESSURE ON FOR YOU GUYS AFTER FINDING OUT THAT THE TICKETS FOR THE TOUR SOLD OUT QUICKLY?
Feehily: Well, to be honest, even if we sell one ticket or 100,000 tickets, we would still put on the best show that we could. When we were 15 or 16 years old, we used to watch Backstreet Boys and other big pop acts, and we would just watch them over and over again, wanting what they had. With this tour selling out, our dreams came true so we appreciate it so much, and we take this very seriously. We’re not just going to do it and go home. Even if there are 10 people in the audience, we would put on 100 per cent for them.
The fans are everything to us. They make our career. They make Westlife successful, so we want them to leave the venue feeling mindblown from having the best time ever. We want them to be a little bit sweaty and for their faces to be sore from smiling and singing all night.
WHAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK OF MALAYSIA?
Feehily: I think about the people and how they are always so welcoming here. I think about the calm nature of the people every time we are here. We were treated beautifully by everybody.
I remember being 18 or 19 years old when we landed here for the first time. Everything was so hyped up and amazingly crazy. I’ll never forget it because we weren’t used to being famous even in our home country. Despite the different language and culture, they knew every song, even the name of my parents’ pet dog, ...my favourite colour! I will never forget that. Most importantly, the concerts were amazing, it meant so much to us and the fans.
WITH THE 11th STUDIO ALBUM COMING OUT SOON, CAN YOU SHARE SOME JUICY DETAILS?
Feehily: The album is called Spectrum, so basically one of the main things we wanted to get across is that this comeback is more than just a couple of old guys who used to be a big band back in the 1990s. We very much feel like a young and fresh band. Making new music is so important to us. It’s a part of our reunion, but we absolutely love the past.
We are lucky to have had a catalogue of hits but it’s also about the future and the new direction of Westlife. To get that across visually, we injected colour in the album cover to make it colourful. We feel fresh, we don’t feel tired. We got so much more to give.
The album is not fully finished but it’s all original pop music written and produced by literally the best people in the world. Ed Sheeran is very involved and Steve Mac who produced Flying Without Wings and World Of Our Own is involved as well. He’s a huge producer and has been for years. He and Sheeran are basically co-writing and co-producing our album. It’s all about fresh pop music, the vocals, melody and good production.
When we released Hello My Love, we were overwhelmed with joy by the reaction. It’s a very happy song, it’s upbeat, and really represents how we feel with the direction of our music. We can’t wait for the fans to hear the rest. It’s a good balance of ballads and tempo. Between now and when the album gets released in September we are going to release another single.
WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE NEXT SINGLE?
Feehily: I’m going to keep it a secret for now, it’s not confirmed 100 per cent just yet. But we have three to four songs in mind that could be the single.
WITH TWO SOLD-OUT SHOWS IN MALAYSIA, WOULD YOU CONSIDER HAVING A THIRD SHOW?
Feehily: You know what, I would like to fly over there and not go home until we’ve done all the concerts properly. However, we don’t have any more dates left available. But we’re only getting started, and with the new album coming out, we will absolutely be back to play more shows.
IS THERE A REASON THE TOUR IS BEING HELD BEFORE THE NEW ALBUM release IN SEPTEMBER?
Filan: This first tour is celebrating the last 20 years of our career with our fans. That would be regards to the set list, it’s going to be very nostalgic. Meanwhile, the album is the new music and the next phase of Westlife, which is new and fresh. We wanted to separate that. After we get the Twenty Tour done, we would then focus on Spectrum. Then it will be another year of album promotions and perhaps a tour for Spectrum.
HAS YOUR FANBASE BEEN A LOT DIFFERENT OR THE SAME, GIVEN THAT NOW THERE’S SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE PICTURE?
Filan: I think it’s gotten bigger, I think even in the UK, our tickets sold faster than they ever did. It gave us the confidence because we were actually very nervous about the whole tour and didn’t know how people would react until we put it out there.
The fact that we are doing two shows in Malaysia is amazing and I feel that social media has helped a lot with that. It gets your music to your fans. It’s important for musicians to be able to interact with fans as quickly as possible.
MALAYSIA WAS ALREADY BOOKED IN FOR A TWO-DAY CONCERT SINCE THE TOUR DATES WERE ANNOUNCED. WAS IT PERHAPS THE BAND’S EMOTIONAL CONNECTION WITH MALAYSIA?
Filan: Without a doubt! Westlife has always had a special relationship with Malaysia. We’ve always had a huge fanbase here. Even when I came here myself in the last few years to promote my solo music, I saw how much Westlife means to Malaysia.
But the two-day concert came from the concert promoter as well, it wasn’t entirely up to Westlife. But it felt great to know that it sold out really quickly. It gives us the confidence and excitement to come back to this country. This show really is on a different level altogether.
WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT FROM THE CONCERT?
Filan: Well, there are things we couldn’t do years ago, without the technology that we have now. We are actually working with the same show producer for the Cirque de Soleil show in Las Vegas to put out a visually spectacular show for us. We’ve literally got the best guys working with us.
YOUR KIDS WEREN’T EXACTLY AWARE THAT THEIR DAD IS A FAMOUS POP STAR. WHAT ARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE COMEBACK?
Filan: My kids were one of the first people I told. I think they saw it coming when they saw the rest of the Westlife members coming to the house. They were very excited to say the least. Nicky and Kian also have kids so they are excited to be able to go on the tour together. It’s going to be a totally different ballgame with our families in tow. My kids are definitely excited to see their daddy up on stage.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO GET BACK TOGETHER INTO THE RECORDING STUDIO AFTER SO LONG?
Filan: It was very natural, I think we were just genuinely happy to be back together. We talked about the things we’d done in the past, all the stories we remember as individuals. To be able to sit down and talk about all of this was a nice moment and it didn’t feel awkward at all.
It was the first time in six years that we sat in a room together, so that was a big day for all of us. Last July 28 was the first day we went to see Steve Mac. That day was very nostalgic. When we went into the studio, he immediately started to play music like Hello My Love and we were already happy, and knew that this was the type of music we’d want to release in 2019. It truly hit us that we were back together again as a band.
HOW MANY SONGS WILL WESTLIFE BE PERFORMING AT EVERY CONCERT?
Filan: We are very lucky to have a back catalogue of hit songs, so the favourites are definitely going to be included. We don’t want to perform any song that the fans don’t know so we’ll keep it to three new songs and the rest will be a blend of our hits. We are looking at over 20 songs per show.
WILL THE NEXT UPCOMING SINGLE BE ALONG THE LINES OF HELLO MY LOVE?
Filan: It will be probably close to Hello My Love with regards to the tempo. We haven’t fully decided on the song yet, but I hope it’ll be an incredibly good song. So if you love Hello My Love, you will love that song too.
A MESSAGE FOR FANS WHO ARE EXCITED ABOUT THE TOUR?
Filan: Thank you to everybody who has supported Westlife and this comeback. It’s been such an overwhelming response from everybody and we really respect how much love you have for Westlife. We truly cannot wait to come and do all our shows all over the world. It’s going to be the best Westlife show you’ll ever see, I promise you that!