India has inarguably become a favourite destination for not just new-age international musicians, but also the icons. While we saw Stewart Copeland, the legendary drummer of the iconic American band Police visit India last month, the next couple of months will see two acts that perhaps every 90s kid grew up listening to – Ronan Keating and Westlife.
Westlife, the four-member Irish boyband featuring Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne, will mark their maiden trip to India. As part of The Wild Dreams tour, the Flying Without Wings hitmakers will perform in three cities, produced and presented by BookMyShow — Mumbai (November 24), Bengaluru (November 25) and Delhi (November 26).
Keating, on the other hand, will make his way back to India after 17 years. The Irish pop musician, who was part of the iconic Irish boyband Boyzone, would go gigging around three cities — Mumbai (November 17), Bengaluru (November 18) and Shillong (November 19). The When You Say Nothing At All last performed in India in 2006.
This is how Indian musicians are looking forward to their visit:
Dr Palash Sen
“Boyzone was a favourite band of mine. Ronan is a great singer. My band Euphoria was performing at MTV Immies in 2006 and Ronan performed with us. He had already gone solo by then. We had a good chat backstage. It’s heartening that all these international artistes are coming to India.”
Aditi Singh Sharma
“I have followed both, Boyzone as well as Westlife’s music all these years. I lived in Moscow (Russia) for five years and grew up listening to 90s western pop. I still remember most of their songs. I am so happy that they will be performing in India and everyone will get to revisit their music.”
Ehsaan Noorani
“Their songwriting is superb. I love Ronan’s solo songs Rollercoaster and Nothing At All. Mumbai will enjoy the gig as these guys are seasoned performers.”
Shruti Pathak
“It’s so exciting to know that these 90s musicians are touring in India finally! It’s super nostalgic. We grew up to their music and I’m sure it will be a delight to watch them live in November.”
Akriti Kakar
“I am extremely excited about this! It’s like bringing school-days nostalgia back in the best way possible. I used to get ₹500 as pocket money and I’d save that to buy their audio cassettes. I used to open the inlay card to read lyrics and memorize them and sing along following the accent. I think I knew mostly all Boyzone songs back then. I’m so looking forward to attending the concerts.”
