There’s life in old boyz yet as stars head north

SIMON DUKE TALKS TO ONE HALF OF A NEW DUO WITH A VERY LARGE BACK CATALOGUE OF HITS

PREPARE yourself for a serious dose of 90s nostalgia as two members of the most successful boybands of all time have formed a super group and are heading to Tyneside.

Boyzone’s Keith Duffy and Westlife’s Bryan McFadden have united to become Boyzlife and are at Hilton Newcastle/Gateshead for two shows next Monday and Tuesday.

Between them, the lads have been part of a colossal amount of number 1 hits as well as selling out venues the world over, and of course, adorning the pages of Smash Hits magazine countless times – hands up who still has all the songword posters?

That means that the Hilton audiences will be treated to a hearty portion of smash-hit singles with the likes of Flying Without Wings, No Matter What, Swear It Again and Words bound to be in Keith and Bryan’s repertoire.

And with fond memories of when Westlife performed in Newcastle on numerous occasions, Bryan can’t wait to be back in the Toon.

“It was always one of the dates we all looked forward to as the crowds were always up for a top night,” he told The Chronicle.

“Obviously the fans are slightly older now but that probably means they’ll be even more in the mood to party.

“It’s definitely true what they say about the audiences being more loud the further north you go

“With us being in Newcastle, we definitely want to have a night out and play some golf, too, hopefully!”

Boyzone and Westlife fans will be treated to a slapup meal at the Hilton but of course the main course will be a platter of hit singles that took the charts by storm before the turn of the millennium and Bryan assures that all the classics will be in there.

“There are certain songs that we’d be crucified for if we didn’t do, so ones like Flying Without Wings and No Matter What will be in there.

“And you know what? It’s good to be performing them again. We’re definitely not one of those acts who try to distance ourselves from our past.

“Being in Westlife was absolutely incredible, I got to experience so much and I’ll always look back at it with fondness.

“None of us ever thought we’d have the success that we did. But above everything, it was great fun.

“And despite what people say, there was never any rivalry between us and Boyzone. We were really close mates.”

As well as cherry-picking hits from Boyzone and Westlife’s respective back catalogues, Bryan and Keith will be sharing stories from the era when Top of the Pops reigned supreme and we were all being kept busy trying to keep our Tamagotchis alive.

“The people that come along will get to find out a bit more about what we got up to,” Bryan continued. “We got to do so much and there’s a lot to tell!” Tickets for Boyzlife’s Hilton shows, where they’ll be supported by Australian singing star Samantha Jade, are available online http://boyzlifetour.com/