Back Home tour (6/2008)
Concert Review
Croke Park (Dublin, Ireland)

(Irish Independent)

When Westlife emerge on stage after Shayne Ward's support, it's immediately apparent what they're trying to do. Dressed in black leather jackets, pants, gloves, and probably even leather shirts, their outfits and attitude are a far cry from the white-suited barstool routine so long associated the band. Westlife, it seems, are "all grown up". There's been a tendency recently to deem the foursome as inoffensive, harmless and "good at what they do", an assessment which has marked a step back from the old state of affairs in which every note merited a critical dressing down.

And while it is a fair view to take as they work through their own material -- 'World of Our Own', 'If I Let You Go' and Billy Joel's 'Uptown Girl' are all early favourites with the 85,000-strong crowd -- it's when they go for a heightened sense of "cool" that things become difficult to take. Classier Of course, it's an understandable move. The recent reformation of Take That redefined boybands as a somewhat classier and more sophisticated commodity. Westlife, so long the pack leaders, now feel they must play catch-up as a result. However, a mid-set interlude featuring a medley of pop covers, along with dad-at-a-wedding-esque dance moves, proves why they should avoid this.