Boyzone, Auckland NZ, 2019

Boyzone

9th April 2019
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.

For Auckland Boyzone fans, last night’s show was a dream come true, albeit one tinged with a hue of bitter sweetness. For not only was it their first show in New Zealand’s fair city but their last; Boyzone’s Thank You & Goodnight – The Farewell Tour, seeing the iconic boyband sign off on their quarter of a century career.

Warming the audience up with a set of original material and a cheeky little cover of Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love’, indie pop sister trio Germein – hailing from across the ditch in Adelaide – made a lasting impression on the kiwi crowd. Lead by the effervescent Georgia Germein on guitar, the sisters performed a tidy set that included tracks from their new self-titled album; a particular highlight coming in the form of the uplifting ‘Tell Yourself You’re Beautiful’, while ‘Knocking at my Door’ had a subtle country twang running through its veins. Finishing the set on a smile with ‘Sunshine’, Germein assuredly made their presence felt.

With a video intro that would have been quite at home as part of the Game of Thrones box set, the four remaining members of Boyzone made their grand entrance serenaded by thousands of shrieking fans, the lights twinkling off the sequins of their black and gold ensembles. Beginning their set with a fairly recent track, ‘Who We Are’ from their 2013 album BZ20 the boys quickly followed it up with a significant step back in time, nosediving straight into the mid 90’s with ‘Isn’t it a Wonder’ and ‘Coming Home Now’.

The crowd were in ecstasy by the time the first cover of the evening rolled around (and there were a few), ‘Baby Can I Hold You’ prompting much swaying in the seats, those down in front having abandoned theirs within the first few opening bars of the show. Moving through the evening, each member would take a moment alone on stage to chat with the fans, the delicious Dublin lilt of Keith, Michael, Shane and of course Ronan’s accents delighting the audience no end.

As reminded throughout, this performance was not only a trip down memory lane to heady teenage days where your biggest worry was whether your crush liked you back, but a thank you to their fans who had stuck with them, even through their seven-year hiatus. Yes there was the expected cheese factor, some of the tracks and vocals not holding up as well as others, the choreographed dance moves at times feeling a little plod like; but what rose above all of this was the sheer fun and enjoyment the four piece appeared to be having, their love for each other evident as they moved around the stage, periodically playfully ribbing each other at any given opportunity. This humour filled the arena with a joyous atmosphere, peals of laughter echoing off the walls when at one point the boys teased Keating so much that he ended up snorting in the middle of his conversation with the audience, the moment pure in its hilarity.

A Cat Stevens cover of ‘Father & Son’ led into one of the most moving moments of the evening, as a video montage played out the story of Boyzone’s rise and the untimely death of fifth member Stephen Gately at only thirty-three; ‘Dream’ – which featured Gately’s vocals that had been salvaged from an old demo tape – seeing the four members gather around a beacon of white light against a completely blacked out screen, the light symbolising Gately’s spirit and the fact that he would always be their fifth member. It was a touching tribute and one that genuinely came from the heart.

Back into it and the second half of the set consisted of a few more covers and of course the big hits such as ‘When You Say Nothing At All’ (during which Keating proved that he is hands down still an outstanding vocalist, the final impressively lengthy note held with crystal clarity) and ‘No Matter What’, the only truly cringe moment coming in the form of the single track they played off their latest album Thank You & Goodnight; while ‘Talk About Love’ may have been striving for that more upbeat, urban feel, it just came across live as rather clunky.

Finishing on the anthemic ‘A Different Beat’ from the 1996 album of the same name, the fans enthusiastically sang along, safe in the knowledge that there would undoubtedly be an encore.

Suspicions confirmed it was Keating himself who kicked off the two-song finale with a rendition of his solo banger ‘Life is a Rollercoaster’ before the group finished with the ever popular ‘Picture of You’. With a visually stunning show, filled with love and laughter, Boyzone closed the book on twenty-five years of music and a whole lot of memories in absolute style.

But don’t rule out that reunion tour just yet…

Were you there at Spark Arena to witness this classic boyband in the flesh? Or have you seen Boyzone perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Setlist:

1. Who We Are
2. Love Is A Hurricane
3. Isn’t It A Wonder
4. Coming Home Now
5. Baby Can I Hold You [Tracy Chapman cover]
6. You Needed Me [Anne Murray cover]
7. All That I Need
8. I Love The Way You Love Me [John Michael Montgomery cover]
9. Father And Son [Cat Stevens cover]
10. Dream
11. Every Day I Love You
12. Ket To My Life
13. Words – Bee Gees cover
14. Talk About Love
15. Love You Anyway
16. When You Say Nothing At All
17. Love Me For A Reason [The Osmonds cover]
18. No Matter What
19. When The Going Gets Tough [Billy Ocean cover]
20. A Different Beat
21. Life Is A Rollercoaster [Ronan Keating – encore]
22. Picture Of You [encore]

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