Grown-up boy band to perform in Seoul again

With its members’ good looks and its romantic ballads, Irish band Westlife has earned a huge following around the world.
Westlife will perform in Korea at Jamsil Indoor Stadium next Wednesday. The concert is part of its “Face to Face” Asian Tour, named after the group’s latest album of the same name. This will be Westlife’s second visit to Korea.
Since its debut in 1998, Westlife has released a total of seven albums and 18 singles. The band has sold more than a million albums in Korea alone, and 35 million copies worldwide. Among the 18 singles it released, 13 captured the top spot on the U.K. singles chart.
The hit songs include “My Love,” “Uptown Girl,” “Angel,” “Bob Bob Baby,” “Seasons In The Sun,” “Against All Odds,” and “You Raise Me Up.”
The band has been popular in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and South America. Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair asked for autographs of the group for his daughter.
The group originally comprised five members ― Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily and Bryan McFadden ― but McFadden left the group in 2004 and released a solo album, changing the spelling of his first name back to the original Brian.
Though formed as a “boy band” seven years ago, the members now range in age from 27 to 29. Byrne and Filan are both married, Byrne to a daughter of the Irish prime minister and Filan to a cousin of Egan, and Feehily came out publicly as homosexual late last year. Egan is in a relationship with a former actress.
In an interview, Filan has said, “We became stronger and more mature. We are no longer a boy band and our music is different from what we used to play when we were a boy band.”
Filan also said the group’s fan base expanded as their fans got older and they have many female fans in their 30s and 40s. The majority of their fan base, however, is teenage girls.
For the concert, the band plans to sing songs that have been specially rearranged for the tour.

by Limb Jae-un

The concert will begin at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium, Olympic Park subway station, line No. 2 and 5, exit 7. Ticket prices range from 70,000 won ($72) to 90,000 won. The 90,000 won tickets are standing tickets near the stage.