Westlife Concert Experience - as reviewed by MTVAsia

venue: Singapore
date: May 2001

Westlife's at it again! Not to be outdone by singing and dancing groups like Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and a1, Westlife give it all for their Singapore leg of their "Coast To Coast" Asian Tour, complete with nifty dance steps, a live band, fireworks and more than four costume changes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last night. What a pleasant surprise since their low-budget tour in 1999.

After opening act Christian Wunderlich completed his five-song set, the crowd waited patiently for their idols to come out. In true typical Westlife style, the lads -- Nicky, Bryan, Shane, Kian and Mark -- opened the show at 9:00 p.m. with "Dreams Come True," a track taken from their latest "Coast To Coast" album. Dressed all in white, the lads continue to serenade the sea of screaming fans with the fans' all time favorites like "No No," "But If I Let You Go," "Swear It Again" and "Somebody Needs You" that features some neat chair choreography popularized perhaps by Backstreet Boys ("As Long As You Love Me") and Britney Spears ("Stronger").

By now, the fans have already got to an all-time high when Westlife reappeared for "Seasons In The Sun" with their first costume change (nothing too fanciful though). And boy, do these boys know how to work the crowd with their request of taking a picture with all the fans!

As one would have expect, Nicky, Shane, Kian, Mark and Bryan continue to charm the wide-eyed fans with their acoustic version of "More Than Words," an accapella version of "My Girl," and a Motown segment that sees the boys rapping and jiving along with the funky beat while introducing the live band behind them.

The highlight of the night? Miss Singapore Jamie Yeo guest appearing during "Uptown Girl," which sent the fans into an uproar when cheeky Bryan gets too close. Not exactly Claudia Schiffer material but Jamie's still a beauty queen after all! So chill, people!

Ending the night with "If I Lay My Love On You" and "Flying Without Wings," Westlife ended the one and a half hour show with promise they will come back for more. And yes, Westlife have proven that they are not a ballad band with the dance steps but I must say there's certainly room for more improvement. In all, not too bad a show with appropriate crowd control and only a couple of fans fainting before the show starts. But I can't really speak for the bored mum and kid who left mid-way though.

The setlist: Dreams Come True, No No, But If I Let You Go, Swear It Again, Somebody Needs You, Seasons In The Sun, You Make Me Feel, When You're Looking Like Tha,t My Love, More Than Words, My Girl, Motown Medley, Uptown Girl, What Makes A Man

Encore: If I Lay My Love On You, Flying Without Wings.