Boyzlife, Liverpool Philharmonic – A Review

Boyzlife, a sensational pop amalgamation of two of the leading members from ‘90s and ‘00s boy bands: Boyzone and Westlife.  Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy, joined together on the opening night of their UK tour to perform at the iconic and acoustically perfect Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. They claimed they chose Liverpool because of its ‘craic’ and because so many irish people lived here that they knew they get a good welcome!  And…they certainly did! 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that both voices, Brian’s in particular, were just like it was when they were in their prime.  The duo performed a medley of their former boy band’s hits plus tracks from their recently released original material studio album, ‘Old School’. 

This was a fun concert from the outset.  The two boys looked like someone you would want to party with.  The years have been good to them, looks wise as both retain their cheeky appeal. Their appeal which originally drove fans wild seeped and peppered throughout their performance. Okay, we know from their antics over the years that both have a naughty, questionable side to them.  This laddish behaviour also seeped into their crowd pleasing performance; the constant swearing on stage, the innuendos and comments to the audience was at some point quite risque, inappropriate given the varying ages of their audience. Brian!  Keith displayed a more mature, toned-down refined quality to him, probably due to constraints of appearing in major soap opera,  Coronation Street for years whereas Brian seems to have developed an addiction to wedding cake relationships and appearing in Hello magazine.  

Between songs Keith informed the crowd that Bozlife started after what they thought was going to be a one off festival gig six years ago.  They and the crowds enjoyed it so much that they made it more regular with a couple of performances a year whenever and wherever they were asked. This later led into a new permanent collaboration for the two long-time friends who thought they’d better write some new material for as they plan on doing this until retirement. At this disclosure, the full to capacity audience erupted, proving that it definitely was a good choice.  

There were numerous moments when both vocalists chatted to the audience and even jumped down to meet and greet and sing to them. Brian dedicated Flying Without Wings a song to his youngest daughter, Ruby after stating that his middle daughter, Lily 20, also now a performer herself, is also touring the UK.  He jokingly told the crowd, she is performing on some of the same dates as him so he advised everyone to see him and not her! I bet the atmosphere around their dinner table might be a tad frosty. Alternatively, Keith dedicated You Gave Me Hope – Believe In Me a song to his dad, who he lost to Covid earlier in 2022, after giving a sentimental monologue about how everyone needs to live for those who have passed away and cease every day as if it’s your last.  This was after he had already jumped into the crowd to dance with his mum who danced away to all of their songs in the centre stalls.  Both performers serenaded a lucky fan, Nicola Jeens with their version of Happy Birthday before encouraging the rest of the auditorium to join in.  A night that no doubt she will not forget.   

SET LIST: Love Me For A Reason, World Of Our Own, All this Time, Baby Can I Hold You, My Love, Mandy, Going Gets Tough, Burn For You, You Needed Me, Flying Without Wings, Beach Boys Medley, No Matter What, Swear It Again, If I Let You Go, Different Beat.

Encore: Looking Like That, Picture Of You, Uptown Girl.