Westlife The Twenty Tour

Overseas from coast to coast

To find the place I love the most

Where the fields are green

To see you once again, my love....

Any 90's kids here? Well, technically we aren't kids anymore though haha

Westlife was one of the first, if not the first, western bands I listened to. I grew up listening to their songs; on the radio and TV. They had catchy easy listening songs. And even though I didn't know any of the words, I always tried to sing along, especially when it's Uptown Girl and Season in the Sun! But my favorite has always been My Love (Swear It Again is a close second)!

I still remember vividly my friends and I used to sing their songs during our senior year, while waiting for national exam preparation classes. 

I wonder how

I wonder why

I wonder where they are

The days we had

The songs we sang together, oh yeah

Yeah, we grew up, some of us grew apart. I started listening to other singers and didn't listen to Westlife that much anymore.

Until one day....

I heard a new but somehow familiar song; the title was Hello My Love. I googled it and found out it was Westlife's comeback song! Not long after, they announced a world tour, including a date in Indonesia! 

I set my alarm, and was ready for the war! Sadly, no matter how many times I refreshed the web page, I still couldn't get any ticket :(

I gave up...

But then, due to the Indonesian fans' crazy enthusiasm, they decided to add more dates! I was better prepared, and thankfully I could secure one platinum ticket. Thrilled was an understatement! 

As fate would have it, a few days before the concert day, I was suddenly assigned to go on a business trip to another city on the exact same date! I was devastated. I couldn't have said no, but I didn't want to miss the concert :(

Another twist in the story! I negotiated with one of the committee members, who was coincidentally one of my good friends in office. She let me go on the second day, but I would have to arrange my own flight and transport to hotel. 

The concert itself was also held in another city, around 2 hours drive from where I lived. I left office early and took a train there. 

It was already crowded when I got there. After exchanging my ticket to a wristband, I entered the hall to find my seat. As requested, I got a good seat next to the Diamond section. Sitting next to me was a middle-aged woman who told me she'd been a fan since forever.

We had to wait for like 30 minutes before the Irish boyband got on the stage. The crowd was roaring when we could finally see Sean, Nicky, Mark, and Shane. They greeted us in Indonesian, saying (if I'm not mistaken), they had missed us since their last Indonesian concert in 2011.

They sang their best hits, including, of course, my favorites, My Love and Swear It Again. They also performed the ultimate Queen medley. It was a bit awkward for me because I only knew of 2 Queen songs. They sang their newest singles as well, Hello My Love and Better Man. Time to show off! I had (kinda) memorized the new songs. 

In the middle in the concert, they invited two lucky fans to get on the stage. I was burning with envy! The fans, both female, sang and took pictures with them. So lucky! 

During the performance of You Raise Me Up, everyone stood up, and most of us turned on our phone flashlight. It was heavenly!

Against my wish, and probably everyone else's, the night had to come to an end. I reached my lodging house at around 1 a.m. and decided not to sleep as I had to catch my 5 a.m. flight to Palembang.

***
Anyway, I already booked a ticket for their next concert in February 2023. Can't wait!!!