Westlife have spoken about their connection with Manchester ahead of their 'special' Co-op Live shows later this month. The Irish boyband, one of the biggest pop acts of the 21st century, will play the largest indoor arena in the United Kingdom for three consecutive nights from Friday, October 23.
Together, Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily have achieved 11 number-one albums and 16 number-one singles in the UK and Ireland. Formed over a quarter of a century ago, the band are currently in the midst of their 25: The Anniversary World Tour, which will take them to Asia, Mexico, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand. Last month saw them play 13 dates in Dublin. Mark is not on the tour due to his ongoing health battle.
A first time at Co-op Live
Nicky, Shane and Kian spoke to Manchester Evening News about their milestone year, which also saw them release an anniversary album, and how they're feeling ahead of the gigs.
“I don't think any of us have been there yet unless I'm mistaken. I've been outside it. I visited Manchester City's football ground around five years ago. It was still being built, it wasn't open yet. I remember thinking 'will we ever play here',” Nicky said.
“In saying that, we played the MEN [now the AO Arena] on many occasions. I think we had the record until Take That came back and did loads of shows. Remember, Take That are a Manchester band, it's like us having the record in Dublin. We've had so many incredible nights in the MEN. I know it changed name, but we played it over the course of our career.”
A special connection with the city
Discussing his love of the city, Nicky continued: “I am a Manchester United fan as well. My late dad used to always tell me, he left Ireland when he was 17 or 18 and travelled to Manchester, as he put it, to make his millions. I think he lasted about six or eight weeks, it wasn't working out for him, so he came back to Dublin. There's something about the streets of Manchester and when we're there, the connection we have with the people of Manchester and the whole North West.”
“It's a special night for us in the Co-Op Arena as we've never played it before. There's not many first times for Westlife any more, there still are a few, a couple of bucket list moments like Madison Square Garden and different things, the Co-Op is one of those.”
Old Trafford on the bucket list
According to Nicky, having the opportunity to see all of their songs 'that have shaped our careers' will be a 'big moment' especially with it being three shows. Another venue they'd like to conquer in the future is Old Trafford.
Kian explained: “That's a bucket list scenario for us for sure. We got to play Wembley Stadium for the first time on our last tour. We were supposed to do a big stadium tour just before Covid hit, once that happened and everyone was trying to recover from it and got moved back. We could never really get the dates realigned, we ended up going back to arenas. I definitely could see us doing something like that. Old Trafford would be a bucket list moment without question.”
Looking back on some of the nights out they had in the city over the years, Nicky noted that the historic Living Room, a bar and restaurant that was located in Deansgate, was their 'old haunt' after they'd performed in Manchester. “We've stayed in so many different hotels. The Lowry is the one we would have stayed in over the years. There's so many parties in Manchester. Because it's so geographically close to Dublin, a lot of our families would fly in to come to the gig. There's always a party in Manchester.”
“It's become a city we always look forward to going to. Maybe it's a part of the Take That phenomenon. We would have watched DVDs of those lads doing their old shows. Then when it came out, Manchester was a special place. There's obviously the United connection and different little things. With Soccer Aid you spend a lot of time here, my kids have grown up Man United fans. We've nipped over and managed to catch some games through the years. This opportunity to play the Co-Op is so special,” he said.
