During their pop hegemony at the turn of the millennium, fresh-faced Irish boyband Westlife were famous for two things. The first was racking up seven consecutive UK No 1s in just two years. The second was perfecting the art of getting up off their stools during a triumphant key change, the baller move of balladeers.
After a six-year break, Westlife are hitting the comeback trail hard – 560,000 tickets were sold for this UK and Ireland tour – but in Glasgow it is the audience who are unexpectedly on their feet. Due to a truck full of staging equipment being delayed en route from Belfast, this sellout show has been hastily rejigged from all-seated to part-standing, enabling loyal fans to press up to the stage.
The remaining ’Lifers (founder member Brian McFadden left in 2004) appear utterly unaffected by this mild disruption to their 20th-anniversary tour. Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne and Mark Feehily emerge beaming from a blizzard of rainbow confetti to Hello My Love, a strident new song written for them by Ed Sheeran. All four look fighting fit in vaguely military uniforms personalised by Thunderbirds-style coloured sashes.
If this mega-gig has been compromised by missing gear, it is almost impossible to tell (except, perhaps, for the lack of an intimate B-stage in the middle of the crowd). Backlit by a gigantic, eye-searing screen and occasionally obscured by geysers of flame, the garrulous quartet breeze confidently through nearly two hours of crooning, covers and coordinated costume changes. They revisit a curated selection of their 14 No 1 hits, sing happy birthday to a surprised Feehily and throw in an extended Queen medley.
The infamous stools are kept in reserve until the penultimate segment, when Filan messes up the crucial key change on smoochy anthem Unbreakable to Byrne’s obvious glee and the fluttering Fool Again reveals itself as a fan favourite. The result is a spirited but overlong celebration wisely laced with self-deprecation. If the intention is to mimic Take That and reboot into a successful manband, it feels like a solid start.
• Touring the UK until July 7.
