Westlife in Belfast: Everything you need to know before you go
Who's ready? 🙌
Last updated 14th Dec 2022
If you're lucky enough to have gotten your hands on a some Westlife tickets for this weekend, you won't be disappointed!
Following their record-breaking 2019 reunion tour which saw Shane, Nicky, Mark and Kian play to over 600,000 fans across 27 countries. The lads are back, and we CANNOT wait!
Belfast fans get ready to belt out hits like 'When You're Looking Like That,' 'Starlight' and 'Flying Without Wings' plus many more.
"After the last 2 years, this tour means more to us than any that we’ve ever done before," explain the band.
"It will be a massive celebration and will bring us closer to our fans than ever before. We’re planning some spectacular shows which will include all of our greatest hits and some special surprises."
If you were lucky enough to get your hands on some tickets, there's some important information you need to know before you go!
IMPORTANT DATES & TIMES
Thu 15 Dec - Sun 18 Dec 2022A
Doors open at 6.30pm
Support kicks off at 7.30pm
Westlife take to the stage at 8.30pm
ARE THERE STILL TICKETS AVAILABLE?
There are limited tickets left for Sunday's performance on 18th December. Tickets can be purchased from ticketmaster.ie.
HOW TO ENTER THE SSE ARENA, BELFAST
If you have a standing ticket (Door 1-2), please enter via the Odyssey Pavilion entrance. Doors to Arena are located opposite Hollywood Bowl on the ground floor of the Odyssey Pavilion.
If you have a seated ticket (Door 4-23) or a Heineken Green Room ticket, please enter via the main front doors.
WILDEST DREAMS SET LIST
This may differ, but previous set lists on the Wildest Dreams tour have been...
- Starlight
- Uptown Girl
- When You're Looking Like That
- Fool Again
- If I Let You Go
- My Love
- Swear It Again
- What About Now
- Mandy
- What Makes A Man
- What Makes a Man / Queen of My Heart / Unbreakable / I'm Already There
- World of Our Own
- I'm Already There
- Flying Without Wings
WHERE TO PARK
The Arena suggests those heading to the concert should leave plenty of time for your journey.
The SSE Arena Car Park runs on a first come first served basis including disabled parking spaces, spaces cannot be guaranteed.
Translink's Metro & Airport Express stop at The SSE Arena, Belfast. Visit translink for details.
The Arena is only 1 mile from Central and Gt Victoria Street, with Dublin only two hours away by train. Visit translink for details.
Keep an eye out for our presenters and street team at the front door on all FOUR nights! Be sure to come say hey 👋
Take a look back at Westlife's career:
1998: Westlife is born
Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan knew each other from school, forming a pop group with fellow students Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron, and Michael Garrett called Six As One in 1997, soon changing their name to IOYOU. When Mark's mum Mae Filan got in touch with Louis Walsh, who managed Boyzone, and he took them on - but when they got shot down by Simon Cowell, Louis fired Derrick, Graham and Michael, and held auditions to replace them.
They recruited Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden, and officially became Westside in July 1998 - quickly changing to Westlife when they discovered a band already called Westside.
They signed a £4 million deal with RCA Records, and they were the opening act for both Boyzone and Backstreet Boys, with Ronan Keating of Boyzone co-managing the group with Louis. They recorded their first EP, 'Swear It Again', in 1999, which went to Number 1 in the UK
1999: Debut album and follow-up
The band's self-titled debut album 'Westlife' was released in November 1999, containing singles 'Flying Without Wings', 'Seasons in the Sun' and 'More Than Words', topping the charts in Ireland and going to Number 2 in the UK.
The band released their second album 'Coast to Coast' a year later, spawning singles 'Against All Odds', 'What Makes a Man' and 'When You're Looking Like That'. It went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland, beating Spice Girls' 'Forever', and the boys embarked on their 'Where Dreams Come True Tour' in 2001.
2001: Third album and BRIT Awards
Westlife's third album 'World of Our Own' was released just one year later, containing singles 'Uptown Girl', 'Evergreen' and the album's titular song. It went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland, and they sold over 12 million records in just three years. Westlife won Best Pop Act at the BRIT Awards in both 2001 and 2002.
Their 'Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1' was released in 2002, also going to Number 1 in both the UK and Ireland and Westlife then went on 'The Greatest Hits Tour' in 2003. They released their fourth album 'Turnaround' later that year, spawning singles 'Hey Whatever', 'Mandy' and 'Obvious' - it went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland.
2004: Bryan McFadden's departure
Bryan announced that he was leaving the group in March 2004 to spend more time with his family, as he had two young daughters with then-wife Kerry Katona (pictured). He also reverted back to using the spelling Brian. His departure came three weeks before the band went on their 'Turnaround Tour', with Brian watching in the audience.
The remaining members carried on without him, releasing fifth album '...Allow Us To Be Frank' in 2004 which was a Rat Pack tribute album and contained many covers by Frank Sinatra, going to Number 3 in the UK. They released sixth album 'Face to Face' in 2005, containing 'You Raise Me Up', seventh album 'The Love Album' in 2006, which contained covers of famous love songs and eighth album 'Back Home' in 2007.
2008: 10th anniversary of Westlife and hiatus
To celebrate their 10-year anniversary, Westlife put on a show called '10 Years of Westlife' at Croke Park in Dublin in June 2008. In July, Louis announced that the group would be taking a hiatus for one year until July 2009.
They released 10th album 'Where We Are' in November 2009, and they won a Guinness World Record as the top selling album group of the 21st century. Westlife took part in the 2010 charity single 'Everybody Hurts' to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake, along with Rod Stewart, Mariah Carey, Take That and Kylie Minogue among many others. Their eleventh album 'Gravity' was released in November 2010, going to Number 1 in Ireland and Number 3 in the UK.
2011: Split and 'The Farewell Tour'
In March 2011, Westlife split from Simon Cowell's label Syco, and released their album 'Greatest Hits' in November 2011, and despite rumours that Brian could reunite with the band for an interview, this never happened. Westlife announced their 'The Greatest Hits Tour' or 'The Farewell Tour' on 18th October 2011, and announced their split a day later.
The statement read, 'The decision is entirely amicable and after spending all of our adult life together so far, we want to have a well-earned break and look at new ventures. We would like to thank our fans who have been with us on this amazing journey and are part of our family too. We never imagined when we started out in 1998 that 14 years later we would still be recording, touring and having hits together. It has been a dream come true for all of us. Kian, Mark, Nicky and Shane.'
2012 - 2017: Solo ventures and reunion rumours
After the group's split, all four went onto solo endeavours. Shane released three solo albums: 'You and Me' (2013), 'Right Here' (2015) and 'Love Always' (2017). Mark released his debut solo album 'Fire' in October 2015, performing as an opening act for Mariah Carey and Wet Wet Wet. He released his second solo album 'Christmas' in December 2017.
Kian released debut solo album 'Home' (2014), became a coach on The Voice of Ireland and won I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2013. Nicky released his solo album 'Sunlight' in 2016 and represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in the same year, sadly failing to advance to the final. He also took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2012.
Throughout the years between 2011 and 2017, there were many rumours about Westlife reuniting, and whilst they initially said they would never get back together, each member started to hint that they'd like to reunite as the years went on.
2018: Reunion at last
Westlife announced that they were getting back together in October 2018, revealing that they were going on tour and bringing out new music. Brian confirmed in an interview with Closer magazine that he would not be taking part.
The band released their first single as 'Westlife 2.0' in January 2019 - 'Hello My Love', which was co-written by Ed Sheeran. They performed it at the National Television Awards in 2019, and released the album 'Spectrum' in November 2019, which went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland. Ed also co-wrote four other tracks on the album including 'Better Man'. They went on 'The Twenty Tour' in 2019.
2020: Stadiums in the Summer Tour
Westlife were set to embark on their 'Stadiums in the Summer Tour' in June 2020, visiting 21 venues around Europe including Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Cardiff City Stadium and Wembley Stadium among others. Sadly, it was cancelled due to Government advice around the Coronavirus pandemic.
2021: New record label and Wembley shows
Westlife broke the news on St Patrick's Day that they had signed a deal with Warner Music UK label East West Records, having left EMI Records earlier in the year.
They also added a second Wembley show date - going on to perform at the venue on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd August 2021.
2022: 'The Wild Dreams Tour'
The band released their 'Wild Dreams' album on 26th November 2021, going on to hit the road on a sell-out UK and Ireland tour. The lads performed all of their greatest hits 'Swear It Again', 'Flying Without Wings' and 'World of our Own' as well as tracks from 'Wild Dreams'. They performed gigs in Dublin's Aviva Stadium and two shows in Belfast's SSE Arena.
2024: North and South American tour dates
Westlife performed a series of tour dates in March 2024, visiting Canada, the United States, Mexico and Brazil.
Mark Feehily didn't join the band on tour, having been forced to 'stand down' from Westlife touring due to health issues.
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