If you were a first-time visitor to Dublin, you’d have no trouble finding Croke Park – simply follow the hordes of screaming girls. Westlife’s final tour is overwhelmingly a female affair. No less enthusiastic, but mercifully quieter is the fifty-plus brigade, who content themselves with singalongs.
As a swan song, this is as emotional an event as you’d expect. Early on the boys drag out their families while Kian Egan sings ‘Queen Of My Heart’ holding a baby. Maybe it’s terribly sweet or else a fiercely calculated attempt to tug on the heartstrings – either way the fans love it.
Despite their multiple hits, the boys bizarrely devote a large part of the show to covers. We’re treated to ‘I Gotta Feeling’, ‘Sex On Fire’ complete with thrusting crotches, a cheesy rendition of ‘Don’t Cha’, ‘Let Me Entertain You’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Of course, Westlife have had plenty of success with cover versions, but since they play ‘Uptown Girl’, ‘Mandy’, ‘Ain’t That A Kick In The Head’ and ‘You Raise Me Up’, you’d think they’d have the covers, well, covered. Fan favourites such as ‘Swear It Again’ are saved for the end and ‘World Of Our Own’ and ‘Flying Without Wings’ are wisely saved for the encore.
It’s been an emotional rollercoaster of an evening – screams, tears and laughter, all wrapped up in a slickly produced package. Say what you like about Westlife – and plenty has been said – but there is no denying their power to move a crowd.