Review: Westlife bring the glitter to Sheffield with their anniversary tour
One of the most successful pop groups of all time arrived in Sheffield last night on their Westlife 25: The Anniversary World Tour.
Gold confetti canons and thousands of screaming fans welcomed Westlife to their 38th Sheffield gig.
Having been in our charts and on the radio for the past 25 years, Westlife were always going to throw one hell of a party to celebrate the last quarter of a decade
The Star spoke to Westlife earlier in the year ahead of their album release and asked if they were looking forward to coming back to Sheffield for the first time in five years.
Shane Filan said: “We feel very blessed and honoured to be coming back, it’s always a great time in Sheffield. We really cherish it and we hope to see you there.”
Even though this was the thirty-eighth time Westlife have played in Sheffield the crowds definitely weren’t bored of seeing them.
The two hour show kicked off with World of Their Own and kept delivering with hits such as Uptown Girl, Queen of my Heart, My Love and Flying Without Wings. It's a nostalgic feast of catchy tunes which take you back in time to the nineties and noughties.
Whether you were a fan of the band back in the day or even admit to it, most people of a certain age will know the words and can belt out a chorus when they hear them on the radio.
The huge stage with gigantic screens made the concert feel huge but they then headed to a tiny second stage where some lucky audience members were just meters from the band.
Singer Mark Feehily has been on an ongoing hiatus from the band following complications from 2020 weight-loss surgery and you could tell the band missed him but they really pulled out all the stops to put on a great show.
Ahead of their tour and album release they spoke to The Star about how lucky they are to be going 25 years later.
“It’s really 28-years since we’ve been together,” said Shane Filan . “It’s 25-years since our first tour in 2001. So, when we were putting this collection together, some of these songs are actually not that old.
“25 was the magic round number and we’re celebrating the 25-years touring with an amazing collection of all these brilliant songs. We’re very lucky guys and we can’t wait to get out on tour now, for everybody to come along and enjoy the shows.”
Shane added: “We've been very lucky. You know, we were of the time when record sales were at their biggest in the noughties of all time.
“We’re at the point in our career where it's all about the live concert and it's all
Westlife will be returning to the Arena on Monday November 2nd. You can get tickets here