Westlife singer Nicky Byrne on India tour: When we are on stage nostalgia is huge

PTI, Oct 28, 2023, 10:28 AM IST

It will be a couple of hours of letting your hair down, enjoying a night out and reliving the special memories of teenage years, says Westlife member Nicky Byrne about the Irish band’s upcoming three-city tour to India. The global best selling pop band, comprising Byrne, Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Mark Feehily, will perform live in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi as part of the India leg of “The Wild Dreams” Tour.

What will be on the offering is nostalgia as Byrne said the group will entertain the fans with the songs that made them popular in the 1990s, such as ”You raise me up”, ”Flying without wings”, ”If I let you go”, ”Uptown girl” and ”My love”.

”We are nearly 25 years in but what we’ve noticed on this tour is that when the fans come to the shows, we’re all reliving our teenage years with some of the songs. ”When we’re on stage, people remember their first dance or their first boyfriend and girlfriend, lots of good memories. So to relive that and the nostalgia when we’re on stage in all of the different countries is huge. We like sharing those moments. We enjoy it just as much as the fans,” Byrne told PTI in an interview.

Westlife’s tour will kick-off at the Members Enclosure, RWITC, Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai on November 24, followed by Embassy International Riding School Ground in Bengaluru on November 25 and culminate at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on November 26.

Though it is a short trip, Byrne, 45, said he has a wish to explore the country in depth.

”There’s three shows, and it is part of a larger tour that we’re obviously covering and venturing into different territories and countries. Well, I’d love my family to experience India.

”I’ve only been there once, in Mumbai, many, many years ago. So it would be something… maybe down the road if we can build on this and if these shows are successful, we can return and do some bigger shows and more shows and more cities. That would be a great success for the band,” he added.

The band was formed in Sligo, Ireland, by the name ‘IOYOU’ by Egan, Feehily and Filan in 1997 with Byrne and Brian McFadden joining them a year later. The group was later renamed as Westlife.

The group released its first single in April 1999 and has since dropped 12 studio albums, including 2021’s ”Wild Dreams”.

Asked what the fans should expect from their performances, Byrne said it is going to be a ”night to remember”.

”It’s a couple of hours of letting your hair down, enjoying a night out and reliving those special memories of all those songs. It’s fun, just two hours of pop with colourful screens, maybe some pyrotechnics and really cool outfits. ”We really enjoy what we do. We have a lot of fun with the crowd. Sometimes we might even get some people up on stage to share a special moment or sing a song with us… It’s a little bit of everything. It’s going to be a night to remember, a moment to remember.” The pop group had kicked off their tour in 2022, performing across the UK, including a sold-out headline show at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium. This year, the tour has travelled across a few more cities in Europe and the UK as well as USA, and will soon go to China, the Middle East and South Africa.

Even after all these years, Byrne said, the band believes in outdoing itself with every performance.

”We’ve just announced some Indian shows, which is huge. We’ve announced some American and Canadian shows. We’re about to announce more shows that people don’t know about in different parts of the world. So it’s about constantly striving to be the best but at the same time to enjoy yourself,” he added.

The singer also hopes to share the memories of his global music tours with his kids and be happy about living life to the fullest.

”When I’m older or too old to do this, I can sit down with my kids and tell them, ‘Yes, I toured Delhi, Mumbai, Goa or Bengaluru or New York or Sydney or Beijing.’ I want to have those memories and say ‘I live my life to the fullest’,” Byrne said.

Westlife’s “The Wild Dreams” tour is brought to India by BookMyShow Live.