Westlife
Farewell Concert at Croke Park
22 June 2012
Some find it sharing every morning Some in their solitary lives
You'll find it in the words of others A simple line can make you laugh or cryYou'll find it in the deepest friendship The kind you cherish all your life
And when you know how much it means You've found that special thing
You're flying without wingsSo, impossible as it may seem You've got to fight for every dream
‘Cause who's to know which one you let go Would have made you complete
You have no idea how true those lines are, especially when thinking about what me and my lovely Dubs-travellers got to experience on Midsummer´s Eve, 22 June 2012. It was also the greatest reason to why we visited Ireland & Dublin in the first place: Westlife´s Farewell Concer at Croke Park on 22 June.
In this post I will write about the concert; what happened before/after will appear in later posts. I also recommend that you read the text written after the photos.
♣
It was an indescribable feeling entering Croke Park, absolutly amazing! It beats the feeling I had last Summer, when we entered the Globe! Even if it was a massive kickass awesome-feeling also coming into the Globe (finally!), it was so much more awesome walking into Croke! The photos don´t do the stadium justice, you cannot believe how huge it was! Above that, considering what we would get to experience later that evening, raised the bar on our expectations so much more.First off, we went to buy some merchandise; I bought the tour programme and a scard. I also thought about buying a t-shirt but I skipped that. Then we went straight away to find our seats, which were awesome! We had a perfect view and as you will see further down, I got tons of kickass awesome photos!
The only negative thing about our seats, was that they were so effin narrow! I could hardly get my backpack and other stuff down, and it was also narrow for my legs. If anyone of us (or anyone else at the same row) wanted to get up and get out, e.g. for a bathroom break, it was pure torure to either get out of there or either complicate oneself up from one´s seat so that they could get past you.
When we first got into the stadium, the first opening act Lawson was playing. They were allright, I recognized one song, which I´d heard before when finding out they´d be one of the opening acts. I had already expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that The Wanted wouldn´t be one of the opening acts on our attending concert, but oh was I wrong, because they were indeed one of the opening acts, the last one actually! *wohoo* But before that we had to suffered through x number of songs with Jedward. *imagine me rolling my eyes heavily* Seriously, I have no idea what´s so great about those two, they were mostly jumping around the stage like 2 Duracell bunnies on crack! Like that wasn´t bad enough, they spoke American English, when being at home, are you effin kidding me! Nevertheless, I took a photo or two + filmed a snatch, just to be able to prove that I´ve actually seen them! ;P
Me, Ammi and Angie also made a gaffe when we went to the toilet. When we came back, Lene informed us tha the lads, yes I mean WESTLIFE *__* had walked passed down on the field. Talk about bummer! However, we got to see Nico´s brother Adam when he walked passed so... It´s always something! ;)
Then, finally =) it was time for The Wanted! I thought that I was the only one of us girls who were excited about seeing them perform but whatever! They were really so awesome and I can totally get why they´ve become so popular and the success they´ved had... Among their own songs, they did a Coldplay-medley that was... Simply Amazing! You can find the movie clip further down.
The lads did a concert, more or less, and when they were finished, the waiting began for the Good Stuff;-) A big curtain with the text WESTLIFE was let down and the whole stadium cheered *surprise surprise* Lots of scene people was running around on stage, working with all kinds of stuff, so we knew it was approaching.
On the big screens all of a sudden Mark appeared and cheering rose. Then Shane (even more cheers), Nico (greatest cheers if you ask me! *LOL*) and finally, Kian (cheers). They talked about the expectations of the concerts at Croke Park and also a little bit about how it felt now that Westlife would soon be a finished chapter. This also appeared in every break during the concert again; the lads talking about different things regarding the break-up, Croke Park and the future.
Soon after four figures appeared behind the curtain (no it was not the lads) and suddenly they began to burn. Shortly thereafter, the two ... screens went apart and there they were! Our fantastic Fab4! The jubilation was indescribably = D
An impressive live version of the intro to What About Now started and ... Goosebumps, people, goosebumps! Even more when Shane took the first notes, "Shadows feel an empty heart..."
Did I mention that you got goose bumps?
After What About Now, followed by What Makes A Man and then Kian wanted to say a few words and he was teary-eeyd after only two songs. *Naaawh* There is already got a idea how to feel towards the end, if Ki was sobbing after just two songs.
The track listing for the evening was perfect, absolutly perfect.
I had thought it would be the same set list that I posted here, but no. I guess that particular tracklist was just for the rest of the tour and not for Croke Park, which was a shame because I missed a couple of songs that both were on the list (Bop Bop Baby, I'm Already There, Unbreakable) and who were not on the list (Us Against the World).
More chills came during My Love, especially when the song really grew and it became more acapella-feeling. I love ♥ that song.
For Uptown Girl we got to dance and cheer, which was needed after all the slow ballads. Towards the end of Uptown Girl, the lads treated us with a lil dance moment = cheers! The rejoicing may especially be heard in the film clip as seen further down, guess it's mostly me and Ammi, hehe!
Before it was Queen of My Heart´s turn, Nico wanted to chat a bit (we most certainly didn´t complain, of course not, Dubs dialect ♥) and he is so extremely hilarious! At one point he started to call out for the part of the audience that weren´t Irish. He enumerated all the possible countries such as Denmark, Germany, Dubai, Sweden *to Angie´s delight*, UK *surprise surprise* ... but no Finland. Buuh!
It made no difference how much I and Ammi stood and waved our Finnish flags, he did not want to see us and ask 'Are there anyone from Finland here?' ! *Hmpf!* Maybe just as well ... ;-)
Or maybe he did not recognize our flag pure and simple. Westlife have not been accustomed Finland visitors over the years, so to speak...
He also read banners. Moahaha! ;-)
Then he started talking about that they´d wanted to do something special, because it was the last tour and all that... Then he mentioned that they had taken up their wives the previous week and tonight, they would take up their respective families (parents + kids), imagine the jubilation!
Kian has, as you know, got a little sweetheart of a son named Koa at 6 months, can you imagine that the whole Croke Park, 85 000 people burst out in one big Aaaaaaawwwwwhhh! as Kian walked on stage with his baby boy in his arm.
I swear, the whole stadium went Aaaaaaawwwwwhhh!.
He charmed us during the whole song, especially when he took the microphone from Kian and put it in his mouth *aawh* Before that he had checked on it, with a look that said, Give me the microphone daddy!. Also, right at the beginning of the song, he took Kian´s finger, held it for a while and then put it in his mouth. OMG how adorable!
The rest of the kids was also incredibly sweet: Shane's Nicole (who is the spitting image of her father), Patrick and Shane & Nico's Jay & Rocco. Mark's mother was also so lovely and sang along.
Here came first tears for me, oddly enough. Or then, no, it was probably not so surprising.
Another fun thing for me during Queen of My Heart was that they showed the original music video (Brian cut away, of course) in the background. Talk about a nostalgic walk down Memory lane, I'll say! : D
Another thing they never did during a concert, according to Nico, anyway, was that they had the entire audience to sing the Olé! Olé! Olé! Olé!. It was crazy fun and the atmosphere, it was awesome!
We would also did the Irish Wave at another moment and we started in our end. It took some time before it got started but it went! =)
Eventually it began to move closer to the medley, which I personally looked forward to! This was in turn a bit of a greatest hits when it comes to the medley that Westlife have had with the tours over the years. The tracks were as follows in the medley:
I Gotta Feeling, Sex On Fire, Dont Cha, Let Me Entertain You and Bohemian Rhapsody. Absolutly and totally kickass awesome! If they´d added the theme song from Friends, I'll Be There For You, the medley would have been even more kickass but it was as good as it was!
= D
After the medley followed another fave in the form of When You're Looking Like That and after that, the ladse wanted to come out in the middle in the audience, where they had a circular stage. They walked from the main stage out to the round stage, Mark was talking and being so adorable, and there they sang the remaining tracks, including Seasons in the Sun, Home and You Raise Me Up.
Before it was time for You Raise Me Up, each of the lads gave their farewell speeches *sob sob* We had to laugh too, especially when Nico stoppedinterrupted Shane's speech to note that he, in turn, forgot to thank his brother Adam, hihi.
The feeling then for You Raise Me Up was indescribable, it was ... Magic! You must check out the movie to really get an idea of how it was. Here you can seriously talk about GOOSEBUMPS!
One would have thought that the concert was over after that, but of course not! We got to enjoy two songs for, World of Our Own and Flying Without Wings ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
I started to get a heavy heart as the latter song took off ... Uh oh.
On the other hand, it was a perfect, absolutely perfect song to end with. For it is so fucking awesome and it's a song that really speaks to you, a song whose text has come to mean more, and you have come to understand it more the older you´ve become!
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| My Darlin Dubs*2 =) |
We got memories of a lifetime through this journey and we are already planning the next trip, do not you girls? :)
Many thanks also to Lene, Laila, Mandi who joined us for Croke (and Lene who bought tickets for us in the first place, taaack!) And also sent a greeting to Malin, who I finally got to meet IRL after 9 years iNet buddies, it was so nice to meet you! :)
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Now follows a colossal image bomb! =D
ENJOY!
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Yeah, I owe it all to you Everything I have right now
I owe it all to you Everything I didn't have you foundEverytime take me back to you
You're the light in the dark You're the seat in the park
You're the lighthouse
You're the lighthouse I need
You're the key to the door You're the port in the storm
And I need to find the shore Cos I can't swim anymoreYou always guide me back to solid ground You're my lighthouse
♣
The fact that this concert was the BEST I have been to in my nearly 25-year-old's life is an understatement!
I will certainly never experience something so magical, that this particular concert was. Of course it breaks my heart that it was the first and last time I saw my Fantastiv Fab4 Westlife but then again, on the other hand ... I saw them live, after 13 years, and it's a memory that I hold close, close to the heart.
Since I've been a big fan of the lads for 13 years, this means that I grew up with them. S
o yes, I have also had my teen idol crush on one of them (who it was we will leave unsaid, guess...!) I fell hard as a pine can I say ;-)
I have also had the walls of my bedroom full with posters of guys and I saw a magazine where they were with - I bought it. I was a typical teeny bopper fan ;-)
In recent years I have also paid tribute to this amazing band in various ways, mostly through the music videos that I uploaded to YouTube. You can watch some of them here:
Nico
Mark
Shane (for his 30th B´day)
Also, do not forget, I made up a DVD to Nico's 30th birthday, where, among other things, I along with a whole bunch of fans worldwide, congratulated our favorite Irish on his big day : ) The DVD was delivered by a fellow Lifers fan, Yvonne, on the day of the B´Day bash party held at the Grand Hotel in Malahide to Nico´s sister-in-law Cecelia Ahern ;)
It all started with a wonderful, wonderful song from their very first album. It's called I Do not Wanna Fight and is a real heart-breaker. I was hooked. Listen to the melody, the lyrics, everything. It is so incredibly good and even today when I listen to it, I get goose bumps, tears and shivers in the body! If I remember wrong, I think the first disc was bought on the boat to / from Tallinn, I do not really remember, memory fails a little bit ... ;-)
My real fandom began when the lads released their second album Coast To Coast and publicity for the album began to appear on Swedish TV. Since I´m Swedish-speaking, I have always watched Swedish TV channels more than Finnish ones.
Once again it was a more unknown song that made my heart rush - and breaking. It's called Soledad. Already in the intro I was hooked and still today, 12 years later, it is one of my favorite songs by Westlife. Listen to the melody, the lyrics, everything. So fucking amazing!
I've got so much thanks to these four lovely lads from Sligo and Dublin. They have helped me through the deepest depressions, they have comforted by their angelic voices when it has felt so damn bad and you have thought that your life was over...
Thinking of a specific event for nearly seven years ago ... Do not know what I would have done if I hadn´t had Westlife to console me during that incredibly tough time. I can honestly say that Westlife saved me then, have no idea... Like I said, they saved me.
I found strength in their songs, on both good & evil. They have also given me so much laughter and joy. I did not count how many times I fell asleep to their sweet, fantastic music. I have laughed at their music videos but also wept. I laugh at the wacky videos on YouTube and have had access to the quotes that has come to be immortal classics:
"Alright story, what´s the folks?"
"It looks like a space ship!"
"If we´ll stay in your hearts, you´ll forever stay in ours"
I have also followed lads and see them develop, both as a band and in private life. I´ve been happy for them when they´ve been successful and I shed a tear or two when the fifth member left back in 2004 (Nowadays I couldn´t care less about the paskapää).
I have been over the moon happy for them when they´d married their childhood sweethearts (or had a girlfriend who came from Vaasa Finland - even if it lasted only for a short while), become proud parents to gorgeous children and I have felt compation, cried and mourned with them when they´ve ended a relationship or lost a family member...
I would not have been so interested in writing, if I started writing fanfics ;-) initially most about Westlife. This blog would hardly existed, if not my interest in writing has been brought and I would not have had the pen pals I have today: Natasa, Daniela, Liyen ...
It's true, I've got so many great friends thanks to Westlife. Two of these amazing girls came with me on the trip to Ireland: Ammi & Angie.
Me and Ammi became acquainted through a mutual friend, Anna, and I became acquainted with Anna first ever thanks to ... just that, Westlife.
I would not trade away my friendship with Ammi for anything in the world!
Me and Angie had hardly become known had it not been for Westlife, the Scandinavia-thread in the Official Forum of www.westlife.com and a fan video that I made, which you can watch here.
You can not even imagine that I would not have been as close friends with Angie who I am today. We've been through a lot of adventure, Ireland being the latest (and many more to come)! I would not trade away my friendship with Angie for anything in the world!
Other fine girls I met through Westlife are: Yvonne, Kasia, Malin, Rebekka, and the nice German girls who lived in the same bed and breakfast in Dublin, Almanii B & B.
Another extremely important part of me, that I got thanks to Westlife, my undying love for Ireland and everything Irish. I would hardly have fallen so rampant in love with Ireland if I had not been a Westlife fan.
I have been introduced to Irish culture, folklore, the Irish language and I have a weakness for Irish English. There is no more delightful and glorious accent! In addition, the Irish the most beautiful, friendly and hospitable people around!
Yes, I admit, there have been times when I have put my fave Fab4 aside for other musical crushes... The greatest one being Måns who still to this day is a fave of mine. I even used the opportunity, when making the B´day DVD for Nico, to add a compilation of movie clips from a concert with Måns on the DVD *hihi* Plus, I wrote to Nico that Måns should be the opening act on their coming tour dates in Sweden *lol* That never happened, as the last tour Westlife had in Sweden was in 2005 and the whole European tour in... 2007, was it?, got cancelled.
Nevertheless, the point being, Westlife will always be my #1 when it comes to Musical Heroes, they will always be the Kings of My Heart.
1 comment:
Thank you Petra! I can honestly say you're my best friend. <3 I shed some tears while reading this, you said it all, i couldn't have said it better. Thank you! Westlife go deo!
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