Rooted by Gravity

Westlife performing a pop-culture mash-up

Photo credit: Midas Promotions.

By Rachel Caitlyn Tan, Year 1, Diploma in Business Management  

Ever been to a concert where the band or singer just plays song after song, maybe occasionally asking a person or two from the audience to join them on stage for a song before they continue singing and promoting their latest albums? You are left there feeling extremely disconnected from the entire concert.  

I admit, I have. The experience, sadly, included Westlife’s Face to Face concert in Singapore in 2006. It did result in me having doubts about going for their Gravity concert but I am glad I did not let my fears get the better of me.

At around 8:30pm on 3 October 2011 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan, who were suited up in their beautifully fitted matching black-and-white suits, shuffled on-stage. They gave no introduction, just some adorable smiles, took their positions and got straight down to business.

The quartet started off the night with one of their earliest singles, ‘When You’re Looking Like That’, adding in well-practiced co-oordinated dances to their amazing voices.

They also performed tunes from their older albums (My Love, Flying Without Wings), covers (Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl, Michael Buble’s Home, Josh Groban’s You Raise Me Up), mash-ups (Rihanna’s Only Girl In The World, Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, Daughtry’s What About Now, Coldplay’s Viva La Vida) and brand new songs from their upcoming album, Greatest Hits (I’m Already There, Beautiful Tonight) before closing with the very popular Uptown Girl.

Despite having no explanation for being half-an-hour late, Irish boy band, Westlife, did not short change their fans. The concert lasted approximately two and a half hours. And the experience? Mind-blowing.

Everything from the concert lighting to their costumes, to their witty banters, and most importantly, their music, from beginning to the end, was simply perfect.

At the end of the night, I could not think of another reason to not keep Westlife as one of my favourite bands.

The band has truly grown and have proven that they can keep up with their fans and the growing generations since 1998. They have not only performed with seasoned talents like Diana Ross and BoA, but also covered popular songs by Rihanna and Coldplay.

However, all good things must come to an end.

On October 19 2011, Westlife officially announced that the band will be separated after the release of their final album, Greatest Hits, and their last tour.

I will miss them for sure.