I've been a Westlife fan since some time in the year 2000.  I found a CD at Best Buy with some cute guys who looked like a boyband, and I decided to take a chance and buy it.  Then I found out they were Irish. Then I listened to the CD and fell in love with them. 💘

Westlife has had minimal exposure in America but is more well-known in the rest of the world.  As poor roommates with little to do, Shala and I wrote Westlife fanfics and downloaded fuzzy bootleg videos off the internet.  Westlife was an escape, musically and imaginatively, but they were also a comfort and a goal.  We both wanted to be loved like a Westlife song.  They made our lonely, romantic hearts feel hopeful and happy when things felt so, so hard.

During our time in Boston, Westlife was set to perform at a showcase concert in New York City put on by Seventeen magazine.  We sacrificed and saved so that we could take two days off work and get bus tickets and a hotel room in NYC just for a chance to see them, maybe meet them.  We were beyond excited!  But a week before the show, Westlife canceled and we were devastated.  (We still went and spent about 24 hours in NYC, where I left unable to feel my toes from walking miles and miles in brand new 3-inch heeled boots from Payless.  Things we can survive in our 20s!)

We've both had a few close calls like that where Westlife is concerned, enough to make us wary leading up to this concert.  I was lucky enough to head to Liverpool in 2019 to see Westlife in person for the first time, but I knew Shala and I needed to see them together one day.

During my week-long attempt to get tickets to this show, it was during a random search that three fourth-row tickets popped up and I snatched them without a second thought.  Then I called Shala, sobbing, begging her to meet me in Boston because we had to do this together.  And we did!

A couple weeks before the American tour, my absolute favorite member of Westlife, Mark, announced he had a health emergency and couldn't be there.  I was absolutely devastated, still am.  I imagined how sad he must be to miss something this band has looked forward to for so long.  So I decided that, despite the sadness of that Mark-shaped hole in my heart, I would have fun for him and in his honor.  I chilled out a little more and tried to just take everything as it came.  We all missed Mark something fierce, but it was still such a lovely night to share with Shala.  We sang and screamed and cried and hugged and had a blast.  And Shane complimented my shirt!

It was a fitting end to our last day in Boston.  After having lunch at Wahlburgers earlier in the day, we returned to our hotel to prepare for the show.  I made Shala recreate a photo from one of our Boston days with me.  The walk from our hotel to the MGM was only .4 miles, so very short, quick, and easy.  We still arrived too late to wait in the very, very long merch line.  (I ended up buying all our merch in NYC.)  I was giddy to see that Westlife had all the merch shirts available up to a 3X, which was very generously sized.  (Again I say, if Westlife can do it, New Kids need to have BEEN carrying up to a 3X.  They still rarely carry past a 2X in any of their merch items.)

After the concert, we waited outside for a bit before giving in to our tiredness and hunger.  Back at the hotel, we snacked on veggies and lunch meat while we went over all the fun things we could remember after the show.  I didn't see Shala to her car until 1AM, then I showered, packed, and tried to get some sleep before our early start the next day.