This blog of mine is literally all about my little world, just like the name says. It is only right to share with you the incredible time I had at the Westlife concert in Belfast on Saturday. Westlife have been around me since I was a teenager so it is a big part of my life.
I do want to mention that I did go to another concert on the Wednesday before this. The Wednesday was the day they kicked off their Twenty Tour in Belfast. They have done a total of five shows which brings them to a staggering 65 shows in total to date. Incredible isn’t it?
On Friday evening I collected my friend Karo from the airport. She was traveling over from Berlin to see the boys as well. On Wednesday we were seated and when I saw where I was going to sit on the Saturday night, I rang up Ticketmaster two days before the event and changed my ticket to standing. Best decision I have ever made. Probably the most expensive phone call I have ever made, too.
Saturday morning was an early start. Standing generally means a bit of queuing. Karo was seating so she didn’t have to worry about it but it was okay because we were not going to sit beside each other anyway. We hit the road at 9.30am. Not even half an hour into the journey, I got a message from one of the girls who was also queuing, but had a VIP ticket. People started queuing since 10am. My originally plan was to start queuing at around 2.30pm. That quickly turned into 1pm.
The journey up wasn’t too bad and we managed to get to our Air B’n’B just before 12pm. Luckily we could check in early, as normally it is not until 3pm but the accommodation was ready early in the morning which was good timing. We checked out the house, packed our bags and grabbed a taxi via the value cabs app. Such a handy little app for anyone that needs to get around Belfast. Taxis in Northern Ireland are also so much cheaper than they are in Ireland. The city centre was located ten minutes from the house. We only paid £7 which is not bad at all.
As we approached the SSE Arena, we did not see anyone queue behind the barrier. Instead there were about twenty people in front of the entrance to the venue. I was a bit panicky thinking there would be loads of people but that wasn’t too bad at all. At the same time there was a Maritime Festival on. We walked around for a bit first before I started to join the queue. Meanwhile my friend went to the Titanic Quarters and also to the cinema to watch Aladdin.
Later on, the girl I planned to queue with Colette also arrived. This meant I was not alone anymore and I had a partner in crime. While queuing I met three girls from England who I met over ten years ago. It’s nice to see a familiar face again after all these years. Around 3pm we were moved and seperated from the VIP people and had to queue behind the barriers. More waiting. I planned to have lunch but instead I had crisps and later on a crepe. Looking back now, I wish I had more than that because I now suffer from awful heartburn. Not to mention I have never had heartburn in my life.
Around 5pm the crew from the Cool FM radio station started setting up their van and spoke to a few fans as well as took some photos of everyone in the queue. The time was dragging at that stage. Even though there was a bit of wind every now and again and an odd drizzle of rain, we were really lucky with the weather. Slowly but surely we were getting close to gates opening. VIP people were let in around 6.15pm. We were supposed to be in at 6.30pm but there was a slight delay, as always. Eventually we could walk in around 6.50pm.
The first step was the bags getting checked. After that you had to get your ticket scanned. Mine was printed and I panicked it wouldn’t scan. Second time it did scan. However then we had to queue in front of door 2 and have our tickets scanned again. It was a complete disaster because it wouldn’t scan for a lot of people. Luckily some of us got through quick enough. Nobody was allowed to run, so quick walking it was. As we finally got to the stage, we managed to get second row. I was pretty happy with that, considering everyone else in front of us had VIP tickets. The heat in that place was unreal though. Staff at the front were giving out cups of water throughout the gig.
Now we had to wait once again for the support acts to finish. There was a girl called Keelie Walker from Nashville and an Irish band called The Rua. During each of Westlife’s show you can win a Meet & Greet with them after the show. On Wednesday not many people knew about it and I entered it all wrong too. I didn’t win both nights but it was at least a try. After the support acts they played some songs to get the crowd going such as Macarena.
Time passed and Westlife came on stage around 8.50pm. They kicked off the show with “Hello My Love”. Followed by their first number one “Swear it again” and “What about now”. The opening came with a bang, literally. They had confetti canons and the stuff just kept going. Even now I still have confetti in my shoe.
I managed to film a good bit of the concert. This was my plan as Wednesday we were so far back. the videos then didn’t turn out that well. I am delighted with the ones I got this time around though. We got some great and funny speeches. It was like back in the olden days, as if they were never gone. Other songs on the set list were “My Love” and “When you’re looking like that”. They had these round things that held their microphone up. They didn’t have that the first night. I know there was difficulties with the set first time round.
After each set of songs each one of them had a speech. During Nicky’s speech he said that the Saturday was supposed to be the original opening night. The night of the real hardcore fans. As he said that, the camera turned around and fans in the first two/three rows were shown on the big screen. I was on it, too. My small little claim to fame.
“Uptown Girl” included a good bit of dancing. Poor Mark lost his microphone during this performance. It flew over to Kian’s side. But with his professionalism he picked it up no bother without not too many people noticing ( I did of course ha)
They also sang a quite controversial song because it was indeed number one at one point. The song was “Mandy” and it is definitely not liked much. It kinda grew on me the second time though. It’s always different when you perform it live than listening to it on the phone or in the car.
Before their big Queen Medley they performed “If I let you go”, “Home” and their latest single “Better Man”.
It does make such a difference to be in the second row and experience the whole concert up close and not from far away. The atomsphere is just way better too. I didn’t go with the standing originally because I thought I could not cope with my back but my back held up pretty well. I might consider this more for the future. HA
The Queen Medley was incredible obviously. Everyone was loving the bum wiggles and more. I wouldn’t have expected them to ever do a Queen Medley. At first you wonder how that fits into the tour considering it is twenty years this year. But to break it up with something else other than just their songs, I think this was a good call.
Next up was an acoustic set. They got out the missed stools. Songs included in this set were “I have a dream”, “Unbreakable”, “Fool Again” and “Queen of my heart”. However since this night, they have changed it a bit around and also started singing “Bop Bop Baby” occasionally. There is also a lot of chat and messing around which is always good craic.
Four more songs to go before the show was over. It was “What makes a man” and “Your raise me up”. As always during “You raise me up” everyone had to hold up their mobile phones and turn on the torch. I came up with a different idea to get Mark’s attention, genius in fact. I normally don’t have any ideas like that but it just shot into my head at the time. After the Meet and Greet I had with Mark in December 2017, I thought it would be a great idea to write “Sligo” on a white canvas in my Picsart app. He would know what it means. They started singing “Your raise me up” and a few seconds in Mark spotted the writing. He smiled and gave me the thumbs up. I even found someone who recorded the moment. That made my day of course.
Every Westlife fan knows that after they disappear from the stage, there are always two more songs before the whole show comes to an end. It wouldn’t be a Westlife concert without finishing with “Flying without wings” and “World of our own”. If you watch one of the videos I posted here, it will lead you to my YouTube channel where you can find more videos of the night as well as the Wednesday opening night. They opened the show with confetti flying everywhere and so they also finished the show with confetti flying everywhere.
After the show I walked over to the merchandise stand with Colette to purchase my t-shirt and the tour programme. The next show will be Croke Park on the 5th July. So there is a bit over a month to wait but it will be worth it. I am going to be standing for this one too and the next day 6th July I am attending the show in Croke Park again with a different friend who is flying over for it. The plan is to get one or two more items from the merchandise then but I haven’t decided just yet. I would definitely advise everyone attending the show, it’s worth it.
