Mixed emotions for fans as Westlife bow out
Some 82,000 mainly female fans turned out to say an emotional goodbye to Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne and Mark Feehily as they bow out after 14 years.
And Westlife gave them the two-hour show of a lifetime, including nearly all of their hits, from Swear It Again to What About Now and Flying Without Wings.
They also threw in a hip medley of I Gotta Feeling, Sex On Fire, Let Me Entertain You and Bohemian Rhapsody, which thrilled the older fans — and the parents of the younger ones.
The group decided to call a halt while still at the height of their success, after being guided to the top by the music business wisdom of Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell.
While lead vocalists Filan and Feehily are both planning solo careers, Egan and Byrne are looking at careers in TV.
Speaking before last night’s gig, Louis Walsh said: “I have never known a band like this in all my time in the business.
“I didn’t want them to break up yet, but they all wanted to go out on a high. And I’ll definitely be managing Shane in his solo career.”
The final concert in Croke Park tonight will be followed by a farewell party for the band, their families, friends and favoured press people in a secret venue.
The band have ruled out any possibility of a reunion tour in the next few years, but given how Take That relented and reformed to be bigger than ever in recent years, there is always the possibility of them doing it all over again.
Last night, before the set started, effigies of all the members burned onstage — as a sign it really was the last time around.
Young girls cried at the sight before their heroes raced onstage to screams that would have drowned out any All-Ireland winners in the GAA stadium.
Support was provided by The Wanted and Jedward.
Before the show, group member Kian Egan said: “We want to go out with a bang and at the top of our powers.”
Fans were left in no doubt of that.
And Egan slammed reports that the four-piece and manager Walsh are expected to share €10m from the two gigs — claiming: “We will make feck all from the two gigs,” which will see a massive 162,000 fans flocking to see them.
“When you take everything into account — hiring Croke Park for two nights, all the crew, the trucks, the promotion and the equipment — there’s nowhere near that amount left over for us. We’re not like Madonna, we don’t charge a €1m fee and massive ticket prices. That’s not us.”
