After two fantastic sold out nights in Cardiff last year, WESTLIFE are heading back to the capital this summer to headline a very special show at Cardiff Castle tonight (Wednesday 5th July).
The guys have also announced that LYRA is to be their special guest once again on the Cardiff show. She was an amazing hit on their Wild Dreams tour and quickly became a fan favourite.
Kian, Nicky, Mark and Shane have said the summer show in Cardiff will be a combination of all the biggest hits, and songs from their latest album, although by now we know those songs so well, they also feel like greatest hits too.
At the start of their Greatest Hits tour band member Nicky Byrne told us……
“We cannot wait to get back out on the road. This tour includes some of our biggest ever shows in the UK and Ireland.
“The tour is going to be spectacular with some big surprises that I think the fans will love. It will include all of our greatest hits as well as some of our new music which has gone down so well with everyone. This is a Westlife tour not to be missed. We’re all looking forward to it.”
As for those hits, the band will bring us a show packed with our favourites – “Swear It Again”, “Flying Without Wings”, “World Of Our Own”, “My Love”, “If I Let You Go”, “Uptown Girl”, “Hello My Love” as well as fresh pop anthems from the new album.
The current album Wild Dreams, was created during lockdown and features a contribution from self-confessed Westlife fan ED SHEERAN (who’s new album = is out now and absolutely fantastic).
WESTLIFE are no strangers to working with the big names. Back in the day they teamed up with the likes of Mariah Carey, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie. And now they’ve recruited the very best from today’s music to write for them.
Nicky added…….
“This album is one we’re very proud of, particularly for the creativity.”
Talking about back in the day, remember these five?
Ed also surprised one of Nicky’s boys with a guitar after hearing he wanted to learn to play.
“I said one of my young lads was starting to learn to play guitar. He said ‘really, I’ll send him one’.
“He posted it down to me so all of a sudden myself and my young lad are on Guitar For Dummies on YouTube trying to learn to play the guitar, not only because I wanted to, but I can’t let Ed Sheeran down, I can’t tell him I haven’t learned, so we learned the Black Eyed Peas song I Got a Feeling.
“After that we parked it there.
“It’s definitely a challenge in motion. If it’s anyone you want to impress with the guitar, it’s the biggest star in the world. I don’t think I’ll be picking the guitar up at Wembley stadium just yet.”
Now we all have our favourite Westlife song, I have to admit mine is fairly recent – HELLO MY LOVE. But we wondered what the guys would pick as their favourite?
A few years ago, we sent a couple of prizewinners along to the Motorpoint Arena (as it was then) to see the guys on a Meet & Greet thing. The girls say they were all fantastic and friendly, posing for pictures with them and chatting. They said…..
“To meet the guys was amazing but to watch them live afterwards was even more so. It was like we were a real part of the show after chatting to them. We can’t wait to see them live again”
The band have sold more than 55 million records, so they have a few hits to play on the show. Obviously it’s way too early to have a whiff of what the set list will be. We’ll let you know once our spies tell us. We’ve put an old setlist at the bottom of the page to give you an idea of what they could be doing.
Westlife have recently announced that LYRA is support on the Cardiff Castle date, having played for the guys the entire run of the UK Arena Tour.
Following the mammoth success of ‘Edge of Seventeen’, which achieved over 1 million streams across all platforms, garnered 28.5m global radio impacts, hit Top 10 in the official UK commercial dance charts and held 14 weeks on the Irish National airplay charts and 13 weeks on the Top 10 Irish Homegrown charts. LYRA has announced the release of her new single ‘29 Box‘.
The Cork native coined the term ‘29 Box‘ which references the most common size dimension of Snapshots used to create the perfect aesthetic on social platform sites. The announcement follows her mesmerising performance in the Electric Arena at this year’s Electric Picnic Festival in Stradbally Co. Laois, where the record had its debut outing to a full capacity tent, the fan reaction has been incredibly positive.
Written by LYRA, mixed by UK music producer Ash Howes (Kylie, Jack Savoretti, Ellie Goulding, Dido), ‘29 Box‘ fuse’s LYRA’s dynamic powerhouse vocals that lean into the dark narrative of the record. Revealing her truth and experiences of being critical of one’s self online, LYRA taps into the awareness about the pressures of authenticity and the wider consciousness of portraying one’s internet self, verses reality.
LYRA told us……
“while social media is an invaluable tool and networking system, it can consume you and a small percentage of people can make it a dark place. I feel like we live in a world with two lives, our glossy online self, when in reality we all have our own pressures. I wanted the record to resonate with my fans, we need to celebrate our individuality.
I never feel good enough, I am always second guessing myself
I never know what I know, cos I’m always comparing to somebody else”.
29 Box is a slow tempo sonic sound with woven dance elements and makes for a track that’s as infectious as it is heady. Thought provoking, the music matches LYRA’s emotions captured within her lyrics. Take a listen and watch the video HERE.
You can also take a look at our interview with LYRA – HERE.
So that brings us onto the WESTLIFE date at Cardiff Castle tonight. The gates open around 5pm and the show should be over by around 11pm. From past experience the show will sell out very fast, so we reckon you need to get in quick for this one.
Tickets details HERE.
The setlist for Westlife’s International Arena shows last year………..
- Starlight
- Uptown Girl
- When You’re Looking Like That
- Fool Again
- If I Let You Go
- My Love
- Swear It Again
- Mamma Mia / Gimme Gimme Gimme / Super Trouper / Money Money Money / Take A Chance On Me / I Have a Dream / Dancing Queen / Waterloo / Thank You For The Music
- What About Now
- Mandy
- What Makes a Man
- Queen of My Heart / Unbreakable / I’m Already There
- World of Our Own
- Flying Without Wings
- Encore:
- Hello My Love
- You Raise Me Up
