Anyone who grew up in the late ’90s to the early noughties would remember the ridiculous influx of girl- and boy-bands taking over radio airwaves (and our lives and mixtapes) every other day. Irish boyband Westlife, who was signed by Simon Cowell, did pretty well all over the world, but called it quits in 2012. Ex-frontman Shane Filan took the opportunity to launch his solo career right after. Now armed with three albums, he’s making a date with Singapore at The Coliseum in Hard Rock Hotel on Mar 10.
But it wasn’t always glitz and glam for Filan; life got a little tougher for Filan, post-Westlife. He had to file for bankruptcy the same year the group split because the property development company he co-owned with his brother went into receivership “with debts of £23 million”. Nonetheless, he quickly bounced back the year after.
His music may be pretty different from what we’re used to, what with Westlife and all; but seeing (or rather, hearing) how he technically was behind most of the vocals in their old hits makes listening to his songs that wee bit more nostalgic. And to make things more sentimental, he covered NSync’s “This I Promise You” in his third and most recent record, Love Always, along with a couple of his personal favorite love ballads, like Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now”, Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” and Bryan Adams’ “Heaven”.
In case you didn’t manage to cop tickets for his exclusive “Love Always” album showcase yesterday (Feb 4), don’t make the same mistake and park your bums on Sistic’s website from 10am, Feb 6. Tickets for “Shane Filan Live in Concert” are going for $118 and $138.
