PETALING JAYA, Aug 9 — Irish quartet Westlife were welcomed by the ecstatic cheers of 7,000 Malaysian fans at Malawati Indoor Stadium, Shah Alam last night.
Members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne, and Kian Egan belted out nostalgic tracks off their discography including Uptown Girl, My Love and Flying Without Wings as well as singles off their upcoming album Spectrum slated for release in September.
The band lived up to earlier promises of the concert being on “another level” as spectacular visual effects accompanied their performances, courtesy of the team behind Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas.
Midway through the concert, Byrne made a heartfelt plea to the audience to aid in the search for missing Irish teen Nora Anne Quoirin, who disappeared from a holiday resort in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan last Sunday.
Filan also shared the missing person’s poster of Quoirin on his Instagram prior to the gig, describing the news as “upsetting” and urging his followers to spread the word.
When the members took to the stage, Egan thanked Malaysians for their warm hospitality and acknowledged local fans for helping the band realise their dreams throughout their two-decade-long career.
With their polished vocals and boyish good looks, the band made their mark in the late 1990s and early 2000s not just as musicians but also as teenage heartthrobs.
Westlife will perform a second show tonight at Malawati Indoor Stadium before flying to Singapore, China, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates to wrap up the Asian leg of their tour.
