Sippers, Happy New Year. Welcome to this episode of the
Tea With Me podcast with me, she and Todd.
As you can see from the message at the start, we're doing the
SSE Arena SSE with me in May Tickets are available in the
description below. Before we get into this episode
and look, I know it's a new year.
I know you're, you've got time in between Christmas and New
Year. You're a little bit bored.
Your, your, your belly's a bit bigger.
Whatever. You just want to get into this
episode. I'm not going to hang around and
keep you. I'm just telling you
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work this week, You might be bored.
You can just go back, watch all the live Tea With Me specials.
You can watch my tennis match against Kieran Bartlett.
The special challenge. You can watch Who Wants me a
millionaire. You can watch the old stars in
your eyes. Roast of Willy T.
The Roast of Willy that you can just fill your boots basically.
And throughout the year, we do the bonus episode on a Monday, a
live stream on a Friday, early access to tickets, latest in the
description, but lazy boys and lazy boys goes there, me,
William Thompson and Mickey Bartlett.
And listen, if your New Year's resolution was for there to be
less lazy boys in 2025, haha, jokes on you is going to be way
more. So keep an eye on that.
And look, could this be the year mysteries come back?
I don't. I'm just saying I don't.
I don't know. I would love to.
I would love. That's one thing I think a lot
of people around the world would like to see this year as what a
lot of people will be asking Santa for, for, for.
And I'm like, that's crazy. It's 11 1/2 months away.
But. But look, before we get in this
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It's the same old sponsor. Manscape have been with us from
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What a way to start the year I'm looking at I'm looking at a
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trouser and pants around his ankles there and and he is
looking smooth. He's looking smooth.
He's got his back to me, but I can still see it looks like he's
got a got a Turkey and a headlock with his legs, but I'm
not is because he is an avid manscaped user.
Honestly, look, I you know there's probably people with
birthdays in January. I'd started January which which
is just annoying but if you want to get them something
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What might you get them, Shane, if you're going to pick a
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I would go for the Chairman Pro. Yeah, I would go or the long.
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And do I have one done? I have to get up.
What the fuck where here? Where you left it.
Look at this. Look at that and that's one
that's one of those products and there ain't nothing wrong with
that. It's a little bit, eh, thinner
at the at the base. No, they don't like that and
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Used to offer Co tea with me a cheque out.
That's 100% on with the episode Girth at the top at the summit.
That's how you've gone the whole way up a mountain.
You're like going to be a wee small base count.
No base count a fucking seven star hotel resort.
Look at that big thick top to that.
You'd use that for any. You could use that for anything.
Anything. Shaving related.
Or sticking up your tree is just 11 months away guys.
Chris for coming against Look, this episode is something I've
been trying to make happen for a long time.
These guys have have been doing shows in Belfast and around the
place and I've always floated it.
Or should we try and get them? And it's never worked out
before. We haven't had the right
contact. But when I started seeing Boys
Life putting up some tech talks on Instagram stuff, I said guys
come to the pod and finally they're doing a press day in
Belfast. At the end of last year we
managed to get them and I'm obsolete buzzing because let me
tell you right now, a lot of people, a lot of people in
Ireland will go like guys, you know, guys my age ago always
even boys only like yeah, some of the songs are good and stop
lying to yourself. We love it and I love it.
I grew up a boys on fan. I became a big Westlife fan, my
favourite boys on songs, as explained the the Lad love me
for a reason, the first CD single I had and then A
Different Beat, which which is an anthem and then massive
Westlife fan. And I've loved Westlife through
through the ages and I love these boys.
And sometimes I'll still put on Boys in a Westlife on the
Spotify playlist. And then I find out a good few
years ago that Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy get together.
They get together and they call boys life.
And I said how the probably held they come up with that.
Where's that name come from? And then people point out, well,
if Boys in a Westlife combined, I fell off my chair.
I can't believe it. They've been turned right.
I think the guys were saying was supposed to be just one tour,
just some shows. And then it's something they've
just kept going because people people want to see this.
They do. They do the hits of both and now
they're making new music as well.
They've got a song like that they put out just at the end the
last year called I would, which is great.
And if you're like, I think if you're a fan of picture this you
have had on and that kind of sound, I think you'll love it.
Something different from what they have done.
I've been wondering this podcast for a long time.
Please enjoy this episode of the Tea with Me podcast with Brian
McFadden and Keith Duffy AKA Boys life.
Happy New year lazy on this podcast, try and ask questions.
People don't normally ask or not ask stock questions, but what's
what's the question someone will ask you?
Will you just and really roll your eyes like for comedians,
it's how do you write your material?
You know, I guess the like I'd probably started with with
Westlife and boys own as well as it's normally when people have
never met you before. So how did this all start?
Like, oh, sweet Jesus crazy. Like it's 30 years.
We'll have to go right back to 30 years and give it all so that
I think when people ask vague questions like that, just go.
So tell me about yourself. Yeah.
The worst questions usually are
usually asked when you're about to do ATV show.
And they have this thing with every TV show you ever do in the
UK or Ireland or whatever. They have they they have, what
do they call it? Research.
The research call. Yeah.
And they get one of these juniors to call you and they ask
you the most ridiculous questions.
You know what I mean? We're going on the show to sell
a tour. We've been gone for 30 years and
they're gone. So tell us who you are and we're
like when they, when one of our managers or something says lads,
he'll do the research. I'm having a hernia taking out
that day unfortunately. Did you ever have like, things
you would do during interviews back in the day of the band?
Did you ever have things you would do to amuse yourself
during it like I would do? Because I did AI think it was
for the Irish news? They did like a health.
They were doing like talking about you and your health and
well-being and that kind of thing.
And they ask you about, you know, what do you have for
breakfast? What do you have for lunch?
And every question I just tried to get eggs into it.
So I like breakfast, like eggs, lunch, omelette, dinner, poached
day. Like always.
Just yeah. And there was maybe 12
references. I always and I'll tell a lie in
an interview all the time, but something silly like I used to
always lie about my dad's name so they're like, you know, or I
would tell us because I talk about that a lot in stand up.
What should I called Brandon, Jeff, Michael.
I'd always put something he hated it.
So I did that to amuse myself. But did you ever have a thing
you would do to in? Westlife, we did, we had a few,
we had a few kind of code words and stuff like if there was a,
if there was a gorgeous girl interview, especially if you're
abroad, you know, and they're, they're not fallen English.
I'm used to call a belt. That's a belter, right?
Yeah, yeah. So if you're like, oh, yeah,
yeah, yeah. The album's out next week.
You know, we just. We just under your breath.
Yeah. Yeah.
And we'd have other words then if we didn't like someone, we'd
be like we used to say for for a boy was a bugle.
So we'd say the book. So we didn't like.
Yeah, we'd like. We'd say to that I.
Don't even know. Bugle mate, it's a boy.
It's the Irish for boy, right? OK, so if it was a car, if it
was Colleen, we'd say Carl. So we didn't like them.
We'd be like scoot the book, get rid of him or get rid of her.
Scoot the call. Right.
So they know then, right? You're finished.
Let's go. You get some some of the real
diehard fans that literally sleep outside for three weeks
before you even arrive in the country.
You know what I mean? Or they smell like that anyway.
But then when the odd time Louis was your travel with us, you
know, you'd meet with these girls and and to be home, to be
home. And he'd say Peggy Dallas,
Patrick Pierce, the smell is fierce.
Or he'd say NAWWNAWW, not a well, woman.
I am I love what you are doing. I think for a couple of times
I've commented on anytime I've seen a video like come do the
podcast some point, but I get like you get asked to do stuff
all the time. So I'm, I'm buzzing to do this
interview because I love what you are doing and I and I love
both bands like growing up. Thanks for having us man.
Thanks for. Having us, I was saying earlier,
let me because we were talking about eh boys on the Westlife
songs. There's one song in particular.
I'm sure you get this all the time of like my favourite songs.
Just my favourite songs out. I got that.
You'll be able to tell me the year the A Different Beat album.
96 Was it 95? Yes, and I.
I wouldn't know. I would have been it when I got
that and there was AI got. AI was probably 50.
And I got a a ghetto blaster for Christmas and I got that album.
No way. So you were that cool 8 year old
kid with a ghetto blast on your shoulder playing boys on I would
have beaten you open the skill game they're.
Just hanging at the basketball court.
I wonder if you have to do a? Podcast to get sex.
Yeah, we'll go down to the basketball courts and, you know,
pump on my boy ball music playing.
Oh my God, but this? What song was it?
This song a different beat. Oh, the song.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very caveman ask.
Isn't it Christmas Day? I was just sitting in my room by
myself. I was like, it's done something
to me, this song. It's like, I'll tell you the
story behind that song. So Take That had brought out
their song Never Forget. No, no, no.
Is it Never Forget? We're at the end of the show.
They do this big lap in the air and obviously they kind of
robbed the whole idea from Queen because it was Queen they got
there, you know? So it's trying to find something
like an anthem for your band for the end of a big arena show so
that you got everybody kind of doing the same gesture together.
And and that's different. Beat was written and and put
together for the whole reason of trying to get the trying to
create something new with it with an audience of going and
and it worked. But unfortunately the signal was
like, yay. Oh, yeah, yeah.
But when you look at the back and all the people doing it, it
looks like Hitler's on stage and they're all Nazis.
It was a like that that song is just different genre wise to
anything else. Yeah, because it was like.
An African African and stuff. Yeah, You know, we do it on tour
as well. And we we we have Stevens voice
doing his verse still, so we kind of do what you wet with
Steven? Yeah, which is lovely to do.
Yeah, it's very nice. Nice.
Moment that that. Is a Arnold.
I like that that I, I don't know that would be many people's like
that's my favourite. I'm sure there's like a range of
favourites on But that but. It's funny you should say that
because yesterday I was doing a live radio show, Andrada, and he
he asked questions to the fans of their favourite Westlake song
and the favourite boys on song and swear it again and different
became work, Swear it again as different became so many times.
I couldn't believe it. No, I'm telling you lies.
It wasn't a favourite song. It was what the first two number
ones were. So it was words and straight
again and people thought the first number one was different.
B. That's what.
It was no one likes them, no. It was number 1, so somebody
likes, yeah. Separate, let me very quickly
interrupt this podcast just to tell you very quickly that we
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Because here's the thing. Say you're trying to access
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You basically put this, put this up on your phone or VPN.
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You can do that with Nord VPN. They're the best VPN in the
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You sort of you, you and Nord VPN are in together and you're
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You know your IP. Where are you again?
Oh yeah, I'm just in the house. VBN is like, all right, then
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you can get a mass two months free when four months free when
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Nordvpn.com. Slash.
Slash T with me the link for that is in the description you
got to get this, especially if you travel.
You gotta get it. Let's get back to this episode
of teams new podcast with my guest boys life.
You say no one likes a different.
Beat no different Beat I. Continent of Africa love a
different. Beat No, that is.
And you know what? We only started doing it
probably a year or two ago. And I'd never sung it before.
And I would say the first time I sang it, I really felt it was
like, this is a great song to perform.
Yeah. Wherever we do it, what we do is
we get the local kind of kids dance school and we give them
the opportunity to come on stage on that song and we teach them
the in sound check. We teach them the hand movement.
Yeah. So just for that song and every
show now we've every town we know from the local, the local
dances. If anyone saw that video on
black and white, what's on the stage going this way?
My first ever CD single. Love me for a reason.
Was it really my first ever CD single I.
Believe you're being so. Remember when I heard it?
I remember when I heard it was in the car when my cousin, my
granny and granda and my cousin had it on a on tape.
That is because I remember. Because that was December 94.
So I'd have been six or seven. I was 14.
And the case was 40. 49. The single was silver with the
half, kind of like the logo. The.
Oh yeah, the boys half silver. Half black.
That was great. I remember like just that was
probably just for the age you're like you were trying to be
properly cool and me and my friend group, like me and my
cousin, if you're for me, it's like would have like taken into
like harmonised with that and stuff.
And then and like a year later you go like we can't do that.
But I remember like I remember enjoying.
What time are we starting the actual podcast?
Because there's no way this is going to make it into the finish
court. Listen, love me for a.
Reason I love different. I love love me for a reason.
That's your credit gone. No, listen, I love it.
Do you remember? When he used to do a podcast to
get sex. But and, and everything you
like, I think what comes across what you are doing now is like
how much fun you guys and the audience are having because it's
a celebration of, you know, everything you've done up until
now. And then I'm putting out new
music as well, because that's one thing I wondered.
I think that's why we're going so long, you know?
Yeah. Like, you have to remember the
boys only went down for what, 6, five or six years?
Six years? I was in Westlife for six years.
We're doing this nine. Yeah.
And I think it's because we have so much fun, you know, there's
no, there's no kind of bad side to what we do at the moment.
There's no negative parts where you go.
We love doing this, but we hate that.
We just love all of it. Because basically, besides
having to do with the odd interview here and there, the
rest of it is just basically touring and being on stage every
night, playing golf in the day and go to the bar afterwards.
We just have really good fun. Like I always wonder if we had a
had that kind of crack in the days of West life and boys on
how long they might have lasted, how long I would have lasted in
Westlife. Well, I was going to say it
seems more like on your own terms now.
Everything's on our own terms now, but I mean, we have to not
forget to look back of where we did start.
You know, we didn't start out to do what we're doing now.
It was an autobiographical show where we we were talking, trying
to give the fans an idea of life, that what life is like for
us from our perception and, you know, talking about the people
that we'd worked with, the people that we were lucky enough
to meet and to perform with, you know.
And it was only when we sat down and started to write this show
that we realised how lucky and how fortunate we had been in our
careers to, to like especially for boys on because we started
off playing pubs and clubs and 40 the back of a 40 foot flat
truck, you know, and then we could get into some nightclubs.
And it, you know, it was the Smash Hits roadshow that we
managed to get and we won the best new act on the road, which
then gave us the opportunity to form on the Smash.
It's show winners party, a poll winners party.
Which was the alt like that was the ultimate.
That was the. At the Year of Love Me for a
Reason and Will Smith was the host and that that kind of
launched us into because that was live on the TV and some
massive acts were on that show and and we got to perform on
that show and receive our reward.
Reward and that kind of because we've got the year before was to
take that no, it was the best new band on the road is what we
want, but that's what we want as well.
So it would become. This thing that whoever kind of
won that award would go on then. Go on the following years and,
and when we were writing the when we were writing the
autobiographical show, you know, you sit back and you realise
that we'd, we'd performed with Pavarotti and there's a great
backstage story from Pavarotti. And, you know, on the same bill
that day, we had to we had to share mics with people for the
last we were singing that song. You know, we are the world.
We are the children. And we're, we're swapping mics
and, you know, the camera pans across and there's B.B.
King, Joe Cocker, Lionel Richie, shame, you know, Mariah Carey,
Keith. You know, so brilliant, you have
to hear the right. Story I love.
The so, so like we said earlier, like back in those days, the
record company would kind of treat you like you're a sellable
commodity and they need you on your shelf because you only have
a shelf life. Yeah.
And there's no I was a very young dad.
I like I have a 28 year old son now and.
So what age were you when you had your son?
I was 20 when when we found out he was coming and I was 21 when
he was born. I know.
I never knew that you were in the band.
The boy band thing. We, we, it was, he was born in
96 and we started in 93. So we were only three years into
it. And, and, you know, I had that
responsibility, you know, and, but time away from home was
constant and you couldn't enjoy your success or your fame or
whatever because you were so tired all the time.
Yeah, concert touring was was great because you had the day to
yourselves to do what you wanted, which was usually die of
a hangover. And but a promotional tour was
different. You're up in the morning at 4:00
or 5:00 in the morning to do live TV, live radio.
There wasn't digital back then. It was all, it was all film.
So you're doing photo shoots for three different magazines during
the day. You've got a stylist there.
You have to change your clothes for every look for each page of
the magazine. It takes ages to get the lights
right because and if they have to wait for the Polaroid to heat
up before they can look to see if it's right.
So it becomes a very monotonous, long, tiresome day.
And unfortunately, sleep deprivation, it just ruins
everything. You know, you can't see the wood
for the trees. So where we should have been
really high in life and loving what we're doing, we were
knackered, tired, and we didn't get much time off.
So even like if we finished work in London at 7:00 or 8:00 in the
evening and we were back in at six the next morning, we were
literally going home for it. To get into sleep in your own
bed, to fly back to London first thing the next morning, That's
what you used to do just to get some downtime, right?
To see your family, you know. So you know, we got to a stage
where we were doing our biggest concert ever back home in
Dublin. What?
Year would this have been roughly?
This would have been 98. It was our biggest show to date.
We were, I think it was 70,000 people.
We were on the show, which is. Already, yes.
And you already, yes. We were on the show, we were
there so. We, we, we planned this.
We so we were introduced to Jack Daniels by our tour manager and.
Lovely fella by the way. He's not another support actor
to clarify. So, so sorry.
I was just clarifying he wasn't another supporter.
No, no, no, no. But they, we, we spoke about
Jack Daniels in all the magazines that we were in and
Jack Daniels saw all the credits they were getting.
So they got in contact with us and said they'd like to support
our after show party for this. So we, we were touring all over
Europe, all over the UK in a bigger arena tour.
But the show in Ireland was in the RDS, outdoors in the, in the
RDS, which I think it holds anything from 30,000 to 70,000.
So it was the biggest gig we had done to date at home and, and it
was packed. It was, it was manic and it was
so exciting because we were home, all our friends and we'd
know social media back then. Yeah.
So nobody knew when you weren't performing in Ireland or when
you went on TV, people just thought you were enjoying
yourself over in the Bahamas. They didn't realise you're in
Southeast Asia, in Australia and South Africa.
You're working, working, working the whole time.
Yeah. So when you got back to Dublin
and then to do a big show like this, it's really special for
you because you get the show, what you've been doing, your
crafts that you've been learning all these years.
You get to be on the big stage with the big bells and whistles,
the big production. And you've got all your your
friends, your peers, your families, all there to see the
show. And it's really special, you
know. And we have planned a massive
big after show party because it was the last show of the tour.
We're all heading off on two weeks holidays, which we had
another holiday in over two years.
So it was everybody was at the end but we we could get through
it because we knew we had a break.
See the light at the end of the tunnel and we had stilt walkers
and those paper mache U2 heads. Remember they made them of the
Five boys own lads and they had the paper mache heads there
sounds. Like a Wolf of Wall Street
party. Yeah, it was in.
The strippies, it was nuts. It was nuts.
It was great and we couldn't wait for the party.
But the show was two hours long and, you know, it was a great
energetic show. And I used to do that song.
But you. Yeah, but it was wrong.
That came out and sang with me because I used to do a song that
I wrote and Roman come into the back of vocals and I I got on my
clothes for the last show. I got on my clothes, put on the
Velcro and we were wearing these kind of dodgy and quiz show host
type blue suits and all mine and Velcro.
And when I'm doing my song and had long hair at the time and I
pulled off the suit and I had a tricolour on in hot pants and
hot pants tricolour was on. It was left wearing on stage,
you know. But before we went on stage that
night and everybody's really excited and pumped up, Louis
Walsh came into the dressing room and he says boys, boys, you
can't take your holidays tomorrow.
How we going? What are you talking about?
We're definitely taking holidays tomorrow.
No, no, no, I need you to be in Dublin Airport at 8:00 in the
morning. Pavarotti is sending his private
jet to pick us up and bring it to modern.
You're performing with Pavarotti and France.
You can't turn down Pavarotti. You have to be there.
So no need for that language. But it ruined my story with
language. But anyway, the next morning I'm
thinking we like the after show party.
How are we going to make it at 8:00 in the morning?
We're going to go partying. It's going to go all night.
Like we're going to be in the heap.
So throughout the midst of the night, the lads found out that
the concert in in modern, it wasn't on the next day, it was
on in two days time. They were flying us out the next
day because they needed, they needed the jet back to go and
pick somebody else up and they wanted to start to do sound
check and because the but the concert wasn't on till the next
day. And but the jet wasn't going to
be available for us the next day.
So if we if we didn't go the next morning, you have to go to
Dublin airport, get a scheduled flight to to Rome and then get a
connected flight from Rome. And when the five was travelled
together at that point in time, we just created a stair
everywhere we went, of course. And it was a nightmare to go
anywhere. And I'm kind of thinking I can
have a really, really good night, get a taxi straight from
the bar to the airport. The private jet will be waiting
for me. I'll get on the jet and that
goes directly where I need to be.
Now that sounds sensible. Perfect, perfect.
So anyway, I, I'm the we all arrived at the airport the next
day, all hungover, are still drunk and the lads had this,
this information that I didn't know that the, the gig wasn't on
that day. So they said no, no, that plane
doesn't look safe. And to this day they'll swear
blind that the plane looked dodgy and the plane looked like
a, you know, a love tube but wings on it and all the rest.
But we at GQ Magazine travelling with us because at that stage of
our career we were trying to get to an older audience and to
become more credible and more cool.
So having GQ Magazine doing a whole photo shoot on this trip
to Modern and I was going to be great.
So we had a journalist representative from the from the
record company and a photographer travelling with us.
And I'm the only one that got on the plane.
The rest of the boys all went home to bed.
I said no, we'll get a scheduled flight from Dublin Airport
tomorrow. And somebody had to go because
the journalist and the photographer was gone.
Yeah. So I thought, right, just just
stay with it, You'll be fine. So the flight was grounded for
about an hour and my hangover was starting to kick in.
So, you know, the little small bottles of red wine you get in
the. I start drinking the little
bottles of red wine just just to keep me hangover at Bay.
Right. So we get on the plane anyway.
And, and I entertain them on the plane, on the flight, all the
way over to Modern, that, whatever.
And there's hundreds of fans outside the hotel.
It's all chaos when we get over there because there's so many
fans playing Ricky Martin, Lionel Richie, Glory Estevan,
Mariah Carey all together, you know.
So I just couldn't wait to get to my bed.
It was about 3:00 in the afternoon by the time we got
there. And I just couldn't wait to get
to my bed. I was so tired.
So we get into the hotel, checked in and obviously I have
no management with me. I'm on my own, no tour manager
because they're not coming till tomorrow.
So I go up and I get into bed and I literally just take off my
clothes, close the curtains, make the room as dark as I
possibly can. I get into bed in all years.
Bang, bang, bang in the door. And I who the hell is that?
Right. So I get out of bed and I kind
of peep my head around the corner.
I go. Hello.
Because Mr Keith. Mr Keith?
Yeah. And your car is waiting outside.
I said my car For what? To go where?
Oh, you must go to the venue now and then soundtrack with the Mr
Pavarotti. I'm going.
Well, we're doing. We're singing no matter what
night. I don't even know the lyrics of
that song. Because Ronan and even.
Sing the lead focus of that song.
All I had to learn was the back of vocals.
Now I have an idea. You don't want me.
This is a This is a full orchestra.
It's 200,000 people outdoor live gig and modern full live session
band, full orchestra and a choir, right?
And they want me to go and sound check with Pavarotti, right?
Who's singing full operatic no matter what in Italian.
That's right. So there's nothing to do.
I had to go. I'm on stage there with
Pavarotti, who hasn't a word of English, you know, and, and the
song starts and I'm waiting for him to start and he's waiting
for me to start and I'm supposed to start because it was Ronan's
vocal to start. And that look, I, I, I did my
best, you know, but I can't imagine it was that good.
He was looking at me like A10 heads, you know, I just wasn't
ready for it, you know. So anyway, we did that.
I was mortified. There's another story that goes
on. I ended up meeting Joe Cocker in
the bar back in the hotel and go add no point going to bed now.
Come on, let's have a point. And then I think we had a 3K
race inside the hotel when we were drunk, but that's another
story. God rest his soul, and so the
next day anyway for. A second I thought you met with
Pavarotti. I was like, please tell me you
won because. I know what Joe Cocker so.
What a Pavarotti think when you whipped out the tricolour hot
pants. That was in the show in Dublin
the night before. He hadn't seen that yet, but I
was going to show. I was going to show him the next
night. That would have been the night
to do. Absolutely.
So the next night we're all wearing white suits.
This is this is on on YouTube. And I didn't.
I forgot all I've seen. This.
The so I'd forgot. So anyway, we're the backstage
dressing rooms are in all these Marquis and it's real pushed
like 5 star Marquis, you know, and Mariah's dressing rooms
beside ours. And the carpet in the dressing
room is like 3 inches deep, really comfortable lush red
velvet carpet. And I am absolutely hanging out
the stage. The dressing room had all the
rider in it, the blue M&M's in one bowl and the green M&M's in
another bowl, the bottle of vodka, the bottle of JD, the
bottles of wine, the beer. I mean, we were being really
spoiled, you know, and we still have the journalist and the
photographer there who were there for the sound check as
well, by the way, which is mortifying.
But I'm lying down on the dressing room floor and the
white suit just to try and get 15 minutes sleep before we go on
stage. Now backstage, the security is,
is all the Secret Service, the Italian Secret Service, right?
Because of the names that were backstage.
And your your, your backstage pass was a laminate that you had
to wear around your head with your photograph on it.
And like, it's, it's the security is really, really
tight, you know. So we're, I'm lying in the
dressing room and we're all in the dressing.
The five lads as stylist, makeup artist, the journalist, the
photographer and a tour manager and Mark Plunkett.
And there's a knock on the dressing room door and then you
hear this lady going, oh, hello, Mr Mark, Luciano's wife would
like to meet the boys and one second, please.
And he closes are goes duster, duster, that's me.
Get up, get up and go wow, what he's just got on your feet.
Line up, lads. And it was like a royal lineup,
you know, so we're lined up and this lady comes in and the tree
kids is hello, hello, hello, grand and doing all the
niceties. She goes out.
I'm back in the floor having a Kip banging the door door opens.
Mr Mark is that Luciano's manager, would like to say hello
to the the boys. One second, please don't start
on your feet. I'm getting up now.
And this goes on three or four times, you know, And this is a
story against myself, but it's funny, so I don't mind telling
you. And it's true, right?
So after three or four times, I'm gone.
What the hell is going on? We're here for Pavarotti in
France. Who the fuck is this Luciano
guy? And I said, who's this fucking
Luciano guy I'm known as? Said you're messing.
I said I'm not fucking messing. I'm trying to have a Kip here
and there's some guy called Luciano and you're not messing,
are you? No, it's Luciano Pavarotti.
That's his name. I thought, oh, Jesus.
I thought like Pavarotti was named like Pavarotti Murphy or
Pavarotti Smith or something. Pavarotti Murphy.
I didn't know. So yeah.
So that was just that was the story against yourself.
I didn't know who have already his real name was.
That's a wild, that's a wild one to say you've gigged with.
When he's dead, no, God rest them.
And Joe Cocker's passed away at the B.B.
King. You know the amount of people
that I performed there that that Morris Gibb, Robin Gibb, Yep,
there's so many people have performed the best.
Part of those Did you know that he actually wears a Union Jack G
string I? Would have healed so much it
was. Just a bit of balance on the
stage. You know the lads that try
corner hot pants. It might have been AG string, it
could have just actually been hot.
I don't know. I couldn't.
I didn't know that you actually used up.
You guys supported boys on back and I didn't know.
Yeah, I didn't know you guys were up.
That's how we not so we started the very first games.
We don't was we started on the UK, their first UK and not their
first. Our first tour was supporting
them in the UK and all over Europe as well.
Who else did you did? You nobody, just boys on our
next tour was our own. So this is said, we started in
pubs, in clubs and trucks. Westlife literally went straight
to our Arena Stage, right? They went straight to supporting
us. So they didn't have to do the
hardship. So he did.
We're working together nine years and I tell these stories,
goes man, can't believe you had to do all that shit.
Why? Do you just want to take that or
something? That 70,000 that outdoor show
was that like. Yeah, that was that.
You know, I thought now at that stage we'd actually stopped
supporting boys on and they brought us back just for that
one, right? Because we don't.
I think they've done 2 tours, wasn't it?
We did the first UK tour and then we did your European Tour
the following. Year it was 9899 because we
split up at the end of 99. Yeah.
And then the next tour we did was our own tour straight in
after that. I've in my mind anywhere you
guys did shows and do shows you get a great turn out with stand
up. I found like definitely this
year I've tried to do more European shows in English
speaking countries and there's a couple you go, it's only 40
seater will do it, but there's a few about the cancel like Milan.
Yeah, I was like, boys put me in.
Milan. Why did?
Why did you say Milan? Because we just cancelled it.
Normal. Did you?
We just cancelled. That makes me feel so much
better. The three of us.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, we're all the guy
told you. The sound 0 Let's.
Go back. But you want us to talk with the
good gigs. Let's not talk with the negative
shape you have, Pavarotti. Yeah, fuck Milan.
That comes from the three boys. You know what's crazy though,
because I know what you're saying about the place that
don't speak English. I always thought that as well.
Like we struggled in places like France and Spain for a while as
well, and Italy. But weirdly enough, the places
that literally speak no English at all.
Southeast Asia is our biggest territory.
Well, that's what I was going to ask because I was saying that
it's so hard to predict what what numbers you'll do in
certain places. So you sometimes you just go
when you see what it's like. But we're surprised you have
where, where basically? Right, Asia.
But it years later we kind of figured out why it was because
they don't understand the lyrics that we're saying.
But I think the reason why bands like Boys own Westlife and a lot
of a lot of boy bands are massive.
Yeah, in Asia is as well. A lot of our songs are quite
simple melodies, so they they just kind of sing along the
melodies and sometimes they don't even know what we're
singing. But it seems to really work in
Southeast Asia. Where was the 1st place she went
outside UK and Ireland? For boys on, obviously we were
before Westlife. And when we first landed in
Jakarta and Indonesia, it was just mental like we, we, we the
aeroplane was being taken off to an isolated part of the airport.
And we, we thought it was for, for security reasons.
We had no idea it's because of us.
Yeah, Yeah. And it was only when we were sat
there wondering and everybody on the plane was wondering why the
plane? And there's police all around
the plane. I wonder why.
There must be a bomb on the plane or something.
We didn't, we didn't know what was going on.
And then and then the armed military police got on the plane
and escorted the five, myself, the plane.
And we thought we were in trouble.
We didn't realise the airport had been overrun by fans who
knew we were coming in on that flight.
And there was 12 motorbikes. We were all put into a
Volkswagen van and there was six points in front of the six bikes
behind and we got. An armed escort straight through
in the in true Jakarta to our hotel.
We never actually stepped foot in Jakarta airport.
For the first 3 or 4 times he went it was like that off the
plane and just out a fence. You didn't even didn't even
check your passports were just gone.
There was no social media there, so none of that was ever
documented. You know what I mean?
But that gives a glimpse in the what I've heard you guys talk
about that and so many music artists of saying like you never
see a place you never truly see like a.
City where we do now since we started a boy's life.
We take time to breathe. Yeah, we play a lot of golf.
So we, you know, if a golf course is all we get to see,
will so be it, because golf courses are, you know, sometimes
the nicest part of the city that you might be in.
But we see a lot more now since we do this.
But yeah, back back in the 90s, it was airport, hotel, hotel,
lobby, venue, you know, venue after show.
You know, just like if you think back to those days and you're
like, I cannot remember the difference between any of the
Southeast Asian countries because all I remember is an
aeroplane, a car, a hotel room. You don't even see the front of
the hotel. You're underneath the car park
up through the kitchen, straight up and into your room.
And then you see the venue and you're gone.
So I can't even remember what the different countries look
like or where they are because every day is the exact same as
that. You know, you've no interaction
with anybody at all except for the people in your in your
bubble and everything just blends into one thing.
So for six years, when I think of a day's work in West, like
most of them will be like that. Wake up in a hotel room,
somebody comes to get your hair and makeup, gives you clothes.
Five. You end up together into a lift,
into a car, into a studio, into a gig at home, and that's it.
There's nothing. There's nothing else outside of
that. There's no going into a shop or
going into a pub. Like, you know, people talk
about what are the after parties.
Like we, we couldn't have after parties in those days, could we
couldn't go anywhere. It was like we could have our
own little drink back in the hotel in our room.
But there was no going to clubs and stuff like that back then.
Yeah. So weird.
You see, if you're doing a concert, obviously the the fans
will find out what plane you're coming in on and and what hotel
you're staying at and blah blah blah.
But when you're doing a promotional or they don't,
unless there's somebody in the record company leaking out the
information, they don't get it. So I remember going like
Bangkok, the first time I was in Bangkok, I couldn't believe the
wealth and the poverty. You know, on on the Gable wall
of a mansion, you have a shantytown, right?
And that's how close it was. It was, it was it was a culture
shock, complete culture shock for us, you know, coming from
there's no middle classes there. No, I'd never been on an
aeroplane before. Boys on.
They know I'd never left Ireland before.
So it was a massive culture shock for me, me, but we did in
those days. We had security all right, but
we'd go off to the markets in Bangkok and we did get to see on
the promotional tour, you know what I mean, a place called Path
Pong, Christmas market. We were big as a ping pong back
then. There were Christmas bubbles.
Is there places with boys life that use use wanna go?
Like maybe places you haven't been, but somewhere you.
You know, you just certain places we love to go.
Yeah. Like we're, we're going down to
Sun City this time next year. It's South Africa, OK And we're
invited down there to perform at the play golfer Gary Player, the
legends, for his 90th birthday. We did his 80th birthday, we did
his 84th birthday. And that's a place that we'll
really look forward to going to. Yeah, we're going.
We're going all over Australia on the next door.
And there's a place in Perth called Umm Juda Loop.
Juda Loop, which is one of my favourite golf courses.
There's 27 holes, see a picker, 18, and it's an old quarry.
But I just remember when Brian and I were down there last, it
blew my mind, you know? I love the idea that you're sure
be a strong golf and it's like Augustus and Andrews just like
no. Idea.
It literally is, yeah. Like when we're when we're
actually looking at the tour dates we're looking at, right?
We're playing Birmingham, right? We'll stay the belfry there,
We're playing Cardiff both there we go Celtic Manor and the only
problem is our Irish tour, so we're doing Belfast, Galway,
Cork and Dublin. The only problem is in January
is going to be absolutely free. At this time of year, because I
mean, obviously up here you're, you're spoiled for golf course
Up here down in Cork, you've got the old head can sell, which we
absolutely love. You know, if we're playing
Galway, we'd probably go to to Mayo to play golf.
Or Ross Point or something like that.
Yeah. Go somewhere.
Yeah, yeah. Look at us.
It's too cold. We're fair weather golfers, man.
We don't like the rain or the wind.
But that's that's going to be the beauty as well because we'll
have no golf play now for the whole month of January and then
come the end of February when we head down to New Zealand, but
we're down there, we've got like 25 shows in New Zealand,
Australia. So we're going to be there for
the goods of a month. I had a tough one playing every
day. I did New Zealand for the first
time earlier this year. Was it last year?
I was this year. Tough one on Monday night, New
Zealand. Oh, really?
It was just, venue was lovely, staff were great.
It was just. That was it.
Just we. Just.
Couldn't get it going. We couldn't get it really.
But Australia was, I've done Australia last two years and it
is unreal to just expect, no, obviously there's a mix of
people there, but to play the people that are from home, yeah,
when they see you come out there, yeah.
And you see like just the love in the room and and you know,
people see each other people that.
Went Irish people are so much nicer and kinder to each other
away from Ireland. You know what I mean?
It's a vitamin D. We go to an Irish bar in Ireland
or in the UK and we're slagged from a height.
Yeah, we, we were gigging down in Australia and we went to an
Irish bar and they sang Ole Ole Ole for two hours before we sang
a song. And everybody was just so
delighted to see Keith and Brian are going.
Where were you when we were gigging back home?
Ireland's always like that though.
It's even when we were kids, you go to Spain and as soon as you
see an Irish part that has an Irish breakfast, you're like, Oh
my God. Yeah, the first thing we did was
go to find Irish. Irish, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, we're gonna have our breakfast.
Yeah, I am, yeah. But when you when you guys got
together to do like an autobiographical show when that
was done? Straight up during that we use
already going like we're doing this again.
Well, no, because we're the first tour we put on sale, so
that really, really quickly. So when we started to do the
first tour, we put on the second tour, right, for a few months
later. And it just kind of happened
that every time we do a tour we go OK, so on the second round of
the the autobiographical tour, we started getting feedback from
people. We only did 5 or 6 songs in that
show, right? So like we tell that Pavarotti
story and then we'd sing no matter what because that's the
song you're saying about, right? So we kind of did the song that
went with the story and people are going, look, we've got like
21 #1 singles in the UK. We're doing 5 or 6.
So like we want to hear more the music.
So we said, why don't we just go out and just do the songs,
forget about the stories and the screens and just sing the songs.
So then we started doing that and then that kind of expanded
because the first time we did it, we actually got the backing
tracks. There were Filipino karaoke
backing tracks off the Internet. They weren't even, they weren't
even ours. Now we're like where he's like
me, bollocks, get the band because how much it cost to put
a band on behind us, He says. Now we just do tracks.
I was like, what tracks? He surely you have the Westerns.
I don't have them because have you got?
He had a couple of boys on ones. I was like, what about all the
Westlife ones? You gonna sort that out?
I love the idea of you boys on YouTube just ripping MP3 before
the show. You know, here's the guy saying
we were singing swear it again. And the BV's was literally for
Filipino backers, singers like I'm never going to say goodbye.
And they're like cheese, the boys.
Have a bit of a weird. Accent on that, they got a bit
of a twang. So then we realised then we
can't do because it was getting bigger and bigger.
We're like, you know, this is alright if you're going out to a
couple 100 people. Obviously we're starting to sell
out venues with like 1500 people like we can't be.
Skipping out on giant screens there.
Was a part in the middle there when we went from selling out in
four hours every show. Yeah.
And we decided to do the backing track singing and the promoter
at the time booked the wrong venues.
So we've done a full tour in the academies, which are kind of
like acoustic venues, you know, sticky beer floors, no seats,
you know, beer, beer being poured everywhere.
And these venues would hold anything from 600 to maybe 1500
or whatever. It just didn't sell.
Some venues were 35% sold so many.
And we taught the whole concept of boys own and Westlife was a
great idea. But like we put on sale, it's
sold out. And all of a sudden we're in a
position now and we're on stage and it's a little bit eggy and
we're kind of going, Oh my God, this is not working.
It's just a two of us on stage with a, with a boys on or a
boy's life backdrop. And it just, it just didn't seem
to be working. And we didn't know what was
wrong because it had been so successful until this moment.
And the two of us were getting a little bit disheartened by the
whole thing kind of going. I look, maybe we've had our
phone. Maybe it's time just to, you
know, hang up the dancing shoes and walk away.
Yeah, back to McDonald's and this we're playing, we're
playing Birmingham and in the Academy and I think the venue
hold with 1200 and we sold maybe 7 or 800 and this promoter came
in and said guys, great to meet you.
I love the concept, I love the brand.
He said I want to put you out on tour.
I want to put a full live band behind you.
All female musicians are going to get them all to wear like
blonde bobbed wigs, 5 girls on stage, full live band, full
production, proper theatres, town hall, city halls.
And I'm going listen man, were you at the gig tonight?
Yeah, yeah, we didn't even sell out here is you're doing it all
around. Trust me, you're doing it all
wrong. Your fans are of that age now
where they want a nice velvet comfortable seat, they want
catering, they want bar, they want a restaurant, they want
they want they want wine, they want to be looked after.
You know, he said, I said, he said I'm going to promise you
this minimum guarantee on this and and he goes, you know, can
we do the deal? I said, look, man, I'll take
your money, but it's not working and all you want to do is throw
more money at it. He goes, let me worry about
that, it's a minimum guarantee, let me worry about that.
And we shook hands with him and he sold it the tour.
And it was. Just yeah.
What year was? That yeah 29, 2020, 2017 because
Boys on tour, then 2018-2019. 2017 was the first tour.
Was it? Yeah, 2018, so it's.
Probably the end of 2017 into 2018 and it was unbelievable.
We were delighted. Now a lot of the musicians
didn't work out and we ended up going back to Boys owns original
musical director who still works with us now and we got him in to
put a new band together. But it worked great.
But how we know how well it worked.
We were doing a theatre in Newcastle are we were doing
finishing up the tour, the Academy tour in in Newcastle and
literally like about 800 yards down the road was the theatre
that we're going to play in the new tour next year.
Like 12 months later. Yeah, is.
That the time, time, time. Time site, theatre or whatever
you call it. So they the tickets for that
went on sale that day right where we were playing the
tickets of being on sale for 6 months it held 1200 people.
We sold 300 tickets and just down the road 40 yards, the
theatre that held 1800 sold out in one day.
On the day, on the day we were playing, so we're going to go
through sold out that today, but we've got to go on here tonight.
We've been selling for six months.
It does show you how important promoters are.
You know, a lot of people just think you put on a show, it's
there's really is an art to it, you know?
I did knew that theatre you're talking about Newcastle, Yeah.
At the start it. Started here I think it's called
the time and some time where theatre or something it's bound
to be the same 1 So it's like an Opera House candidate.
Yeah, that's that's predominantly what we do now
with all those types of venues. We did it to.
So I've done the comedy club and you.
It's always for me. I'll do the comedy club and then
it's. Do you jump then to the local
theatre? Theatre.
Yeah, but sometimes the jump is way too big and that in
Newcastle that place holds like, I don't know, 1200 or something.
Like you say. We had maybe 250 on the on the
on the floor sheet and we were trying to move it.
You know, we go to a small venue, couldn't move it.
One of the shows, the tour. Oh really?
It was because sometimes that happens on the audience.
Look around. I've got a great start for you
when I was in my first solo tour.
And. I'm playing in love, playing in
Liverpool. In a massive.
Yeah, the watch with the Empire holes, like 3 or 4000 or
whatever, huge, massive place and I'm playing it.
But the day I was playing it was when Liverpool had won the
Champions League and they were having their parade, which was
literally outside. So I'm on stage and I've done
the sound check and there's a piano on stage, so I'm just
playing a few songs on the stage and have the rest of the band
had gone and I look up because shit better get off the doors
and be open. I said to the guy at the back,
excuse me? He said when did the doors open?
He goes, they're open. Not one person I ended up to,
I'm not lying. There was ended up being about
18 people in the day because most people couldn't get in and
literally performed 18 people that.
Night. Well, sometimes.
And that's like the thing I had Newcastle.
Like sometimes the audience look around and go, this feels empty
and they can't get it and they feel awkward and comfortable.
But sometimes it's magic where everyone just comes together and
we're all together the most of this.
And we'll have a great one. Yeah.
Because I just told you I was. I was in Dubai two nights ago.
Yeah. Was it?
No, I came back last night and we did a show in a beautiful
theatre. It was amazing and if there had
been like double the people, it would have been great.
But it was it was one of those ones where it was like the
audience that were there were great.
But sometimes you just you wish they could just bring the walls
in. It's those nights when you're
backstage ready to go on and you know you're going on the 10
minutes and there's a RIP or a tear the curtain and you just
have a little lookout and go, oh shit.
We performed at the World Cup and guitar, we performed before
on the picture. Yeah.
Halftime. Holland, Argentina serious
before we were just before kickoff, right OK, but it was
the brilliant thing. So we were so excited.
FIFA brought us out, flew us out, put us up everything and
we're like are we will we try and get things up to some FIFA
bringing us out they'll sort us out we're performing before the
game. So I said in perfect.
We perform both sit down, watch Messi, watch Argentina, Holland
unbelievable. So we're about to go on.
We said listen, can we? Can we stay and watch the game
after? No.
No, we were escorted out of the venue.
Before kickoff, straight out the door came off.
They're like, no, you don't listen, we've got your stuff in
the van. Couldn't fucking believe it.
They. Flew us over in first class,
they put us up in a five star hotel, they paid us a load of
dollars to sing at the game. We didn't even and they kicked
us in. We just assumed.
And we were there. We wanted to, we wanted to go
and see the England game. So we contacted the people that
the contacts we had and they told us where to go to get the
tickets. They charged us 3 grand for two
tickets. We had the goals.
We were like we were there for four or five days.
We can't go to a World Cup and not do nothing but just see the
pitch and leave. We said we have to go to a game.
We. Went to a game but we got
nosebleeds. France game and it was, we were
charged a lot, but we couldn't believe it.
We were standing on there on on the pitch going right.
This is going to be so exciting. It was just the blood.
This a bit, yeah. Can we go and watch the game
now? No.
You're like, can we, can we just not leave?
Their stuff out the dress they. Brought us in the tunnel, so we
were in the tunnel with the teams and all that.
We're going. What does it matter if we just
stay here and watch the game? Don't look at messy.
Don't look at them. Plus, people like, you know, if
you went to a bar to watch it locally, it probably sounded
like you guys were lying. A barn We guitar.
We're still looking for it. You're saying the people after
the game we were on start? Of that show.
Yeah, right. That was great experience though
it. Was amazing to be there.
I have to say it was a good work up and I think that you know the
fact that there wasn't that booze culture over there because
when we went to the England France game, like the
atmosphere, the stadium was wonderful.
You know those families, everyone and everyone was
enjoying it. You never felt, you know
sometimes you go to these games you feel a bit like it's a bit
tense and stuff. It was lovely.
And the structures they had, it was like the stadium for the
England, France game was literally whatever it was.
Like let's say there was 50 rows of seats and it was just
literally all the same. The holy rows.
You could walk from the top, right down.
Yeah, it was just perfectly. That people like enjoy on the
podcast whenever I have like travel chaos when something goes
wrong, yeah, I'm I'm susceptible the fucking things up with
travel. I'll get I'll get in time wrong,
go to the airport or do something.
So we had a great time to buy when there was 2 minutes to do
stand up with a brilliant time. The show was actually the show
was one of those ones. It was like could have done more
people, but the people that were there were great.
And we had it. We had a good time and went to
see the Eminem concert and stuff and we had a good time.
And it had been like too good, you know, everything worked out
too well. Yeah.
And we're sit. I can't do my chickens too
early. We were sitting.
We got in the in the airport to fly home yesterday morning and
we all separated. Someone want to go shopping?
Other guy was flying business. So I went to Giraffe Cafe, sat
down and got myself some food, set my rucksack down.
I'm out of a bomb bag now. I've been against the bomb bag
for back up until now, 36. Years I've been above no period
bomb bag but not what not like up here.
I don't know. I actually think the crossbodies
worse. I think it's better to just
embrace NAFTA. Were you?
Wearing Louis Vuitton shorts. I ain't got Joker trousers with
slip black slip on shoes and no socks.
Are you sure you're from You're not from Essex?
I've got to a point where I go to bomb bags.
Just part of me now, just want to travel.
Just want to. You'll never see me.
It is your travellers cheques, isn't?
It it is your Fanny packs, great.
I've got, you know, I've got my eye drops in it, everything
right. So I get I get sorted.
I sit down at a table to eat and I'm like not cutting the fine
time wise. But my mates at the gate and I
say text me when I need to go when they, because we're in the
last boarding group. So I'm like when they start
boarding tell me I'll come down and I set my stuff down at my
food. Halfway through my food he texts
me need to go. So I said right so I paid the
bill, get my bomb bag on, let's go.
Got on to the flight like got on, sat down and just turned
him. I was like I don't have a bag,
laptop, wallet. Oh no.
So I said to the guy in the plane, I go like my I've left my
bag in the airport, he said. You have any medication in it?
And I said because I was like 10 minutes left my mate, my mate
Willie D nudge me. He goes fucking say hey,
Medicaid and I did have an inhaler in it.
So I went yeah. And healer, he said he
asthmatic. I was like very I'm I'm just
smile. I said yeah, yeah, but they they
couldn't get it. But because I'd say it, he's
like, you're going to contact lost property because I'd say
it. I was asthmatic and they were
the medical people had to come on.
Took you off the plane. No it didn't.
It would have been better if they took me off the plane but
everyone looks and it's so I like.
I haven't needed an inhaler in years.
I just bring them. To.
Start hooking me, hooking me up to check that I was fit to fly.
And by the way, there's loads of people from.
Here, have you had a surgery medication Was Viagra with they?
Go, they go. Listen, we know you're very
asthmatic. And I'm like, and they said, I
just want to make sure. Are you happy to go without it?
You know, they're like, but you're very asthmatic.
You sure you want to go without it?
And I said yeah. And they said that, right?
Would so the broad overall this fucking machine start taking my
blood pressure, hooking me up to a heart rate thing, check my
oxygen? Have to do.
I'll tell you what, it wasn't Ryan Air, that's for sure.
It. Was Emirates and then they there
was loads of people from home on the flight you.
Know. What's wrong?
What are you doing? You holding this up?
Fuck. I'm off.
And and it was awful. I made peace with it.
I said to the boys went listen, it's happened.
There's no, I've got my passport, That's all I need.
It'll show up. I'll get the bag eventually.
So we're getting baggage reclaim comes around.
I said the boys, I will laugh about this at some point.
My it goes to London Port Eagles.
At least you have your car keys because I drove us to the
airport. Oh, no, no.
Car keys were in the rucksack. Oh.
Shit. If you're going to fuck up, you
might as a fuck. Up exactly fucking right, yeah.
How to get how to get an Uber back to the house.
Oh, disaster. From Dublin.
From Dublin to Belfast, yeah. How much was that 300?
£300 Fuck. Then my mate William goes, top
guy goes in the morning, as in this morning.
He goes, I'll pick you up, I'll take you to Dublin Airport to
get your car. Come fight, Miss Berkey.
You're joking. What about the bag?
Have you not located the bag from Dubai?
I've got a case reference number and we're working on.
Wow. Because they probably, I'd be
very surprised if you don't get that.
Yeah, no, but you know what does the like a rucksack in the
middle of an airport. No matter.
What airport it? Might be blown off, actually.
Yeah, yeah. I made this analogy to my wife,
right? I go because like this always
happens to me. I said, listen, if you swim in
the Everglades once a year, you'll probably, you're never
going to get attacked by a crocodile if you go for a quick
dip. So people that fly once a year,
if you go into the Everglades once a year, you won't get back
rocket. But if you get in the Everglades
every day or take a lot of flights, at some point you might
get attacked by a crocodile. It's inevitable.
Absolutely. And I think that makes perfect
sense. If it makes sense to you, that's
good, sorry. I don't understand that I.
Don't fly every day, but I mean, I'm in the water.
What's the fucking crocodile doing on an embers flight are?
You sure? I mean, there's more you.
Don't need that inhaler if there's lack lack of oxygen to
the brain I think. There's more opportunities for
me to get it wrong, right? Yeah, of.
Course. Yeah, right.
OK, I have to say I have the same.
Six times. I don't think that analogy is
going to take off but but. No way.
I've been flying to go to work for 30 years.
I've been flying out of Dublin Airport for 30 years, since 9331
years, and back then I didn't care about flying, it didn't
bother me, I never even thought about it.
I've become very very, very aware of flying now and it's
something that I have to reconsider and think about.
My anxiety which I never struggled from or even even
experienced before is at an all time high for taking off in
London. Do you know what I mean?
Because it's exactly what you just said.
It's OK if you take a flight and all these once a year you know
the chances are the are slim if. You're in the Everglades one.
But if I if. I'm in the Everglades.
If I'm at a plane three times a week, I've more chance of being
on that one flight that's going to go fucking wrong.
By the way, I'm on a flight at 6:00 this evening, so I'll just,
I just gotta be sitting there tomorrow goes no fucking gas.
We were only talking about that you're going to lose something.
I'll be talking to him about you're.
Going to lose something. Tomorrow and you're going to
say, you're going to say to your manager.
Tomorrow you're going to say, listen, if you're in the
Everglades every day of the year, women.
Just make sure you bring your inhaler trust.
Me, you'll need that analogy at some point.
Straggling with your man bag but yeah.
Look, I'm confident I'm going to get it back.
Had to fill out a form today describing the bag, what was in
it. I'm going to get a pack.
It's going to be able to open it and see your wallet and you
should see your name on it. We're going to back.
It's going to be all, yeah. But it's like you said, if
somebody sees a backpack lying on the floor, they destroy
airports. You have done again, not on the
inside. Have to get through security
already. True enough.
Yeah, though I think it's going to be fine.
Either that or someone from from what Pierce seen and go in
German's bag. What was your last search on on
your laptop? Well, well, we're all logged
into one Google account through my Google.
So I, I make sure my search history is deleted.
Is above board? Yeah, yeah.
Deleted or above board? Not to mention you're coming
from Dubai, so you're limited to what you can search over there.
You're right, you're right. It's kind of VPN.
But if you guys through that Nord VPN who were sponsored by
do you have you guys ever fucked up something trouble wise?
But I. Didn't know where you were going
with that. Not that bad, right?
Not that bad. I I did, I well, it's a funny
story. It's another story that we used
to tell on the on the, on the autobiographical show.
So when boys on got back together in 2000 and at the end
of 2007 and we hadn't made the Better Together since 99.
So it was like, I mean, it was children in Needs asked us to
get back together to perform on the live Children in Need show
and to do a melody of sorry, a medley of three of our songs.
So we went into the dance studios to put together like
choreographed bits for the medley and we had a great time
and we all hadn't been together in literally 8 years, 7-8 years.
But we after we went so well, our promoter said, you know, do
you fancy going back out on the road?
I've got any. And he made us an offer.
We couldn't turn down really massive big arena tour all over
the world. So we said we would.
But we made a pact with each other that we're going to get
into the gym and we're going to be the fittest that we've ever
been. So we hired a personal trainer
and a nutritionist and we took it really, really serious, like
deadly, deadly serious. And we all kept an eye on each
other. So you're not going to cheat.
I'm watching it and you're not going to cheat because he's
watching it. And it was like that.
So we, we got absolutely shredded.
We were, we were in the best shapes of our life.
We're the big, the going gets tough.
We did on stage on treadmills and we've done a dance routine
on treadmills and we're all shredded and, but so nobody had
any shit food. All we're having was Turkey and
eggs and, you know, sweet potato and, and, and brown rice.
And I mean, we, we chefs on their own riddles.
But the tour got us out to Southeast Asia.
And there was myself, Mikey wasn't, didn't, wasn't on this
part of the tour. It was myself, Stephen Gately
God wrestling and and Shane and Ronan and we were flying from
Taiwan to Australia and we were, our flight wasn't till like 4:00
or 5:00 in the morning and we're flying Taiwan, Hong Kong, Hong
Kong, Australia. So we decided that we finished a
lot of the tour and we hadn't really let our hair down and
we've been watching ourselves and no alcohol and no shit food
and da da da da da. And we decided the record
company wanted to bring us out in Taiwan and to kind of
celebrate the success or whatever.
So we we decided to let our hair down, have a few drinks this
particular night. So we got we got well on it.
But there was some sort of a political thing going on in
Taipei at the time with Chinese delegates that were over, and
there was some kind of warning of riots and whatever.
But our hotel was where the Chinese delegates were staying.
And all the streets that lead into the hotel at 12:00 at night
were barricaded by the riot police with Shields, right?
But we were already out of that area in a nightclub at that
time. We checked out of the hotel,
left all the bags in the lobby of the hotel.
So when we were leaving the nightclub, we fly back by the
hotel, grab the bags and go to the airport.
And I I got hammered really early on the time.
I'm going to go back to the hotel and have a couple of hours
Kip. I'm not staying out till 4:00 in
the morning. So I'm the one to find all these
police with the with the Shields open like on how am I going to
get into the hotel? All these all these guards up
with these Shields. I literally Dover locked in the
shield. Excuse me man, sorry I'm from
boys zone. I'm staying in the same hotel.
You wouldn't let me in. An ordinary police came along
and I tried to explain them and the guy just turned his shield
to the side. Let me in and I went back to the
hotel. It was all the hotel rooms are
gone. So I ended up sitting in the bar
drinking. I mean, on to the lads got back.
So it was even worse. So we get down to the house, we
get down to the airport and we decided that we'll keep drinking
through the flight from Taipei to Hong Kong.
And then when we get on the flight from Hong Kong to Sydney,
we'll sleep because if they hit the groundwork and we have to go
straight into early breakfast, TV and radio and stuff.
So, so we'll sleep on that part of the flight.
So we're going through the gym, we fly, we drink all the way.
And the flight from Taipei to Hong Kong, we're in Hong Kong,
Judy free. And none of us had any crap food
at all at this stage. And we just see this big sign
for Burger King and Ronan's off shopping in Louis Vuitton or
something like that. And we all, we all just see this
like a shining, like a shining rainbow of Burger King of oh,
will we? Will we?
Why will it? You will don't.
We can't tell row. Nobody tells Roni.
Nobody can't, nobody tells Roni. So we're the trees are holding
each other up, myself, Shane and Steven, and we go up onto the
upper level where Burger King is.
And I said last you sit down, I get the food in, I get the food
in. So I go up to the counter and I
can't understand any adult. I just want three big whoppers
and and I said the shadow. I don't know what they say
because duster the menus in English.
Oh yeah, I couldn't even see it. So I got like double whoppers
with ketchup and mayonnaise meals with chips and the whole.
And we sat down and we opened up the burgers and which like
honest is like, oh, I remember biting.
It was like, Oh my God. And it's all driven down my chin
on to me chest. It's all over me, you know, and
I'm going on Lazo, you have to sleep on this next flight.
I have to sleep. And then Stephen's going.
Don't worry, I'm going to give you an antihistamine tablet and
a melatonin and the two of them together, they'll make you
sleep. You'll be grand.
Don't worry about it. So we're the only ones
travelling in business class, right?
There's nobody else up there beside us.
So we have, we have the burgers and everything else and taking
into account we haven't had shit food for ages.
So we sit down on the seats in the aeroplane and you can't put
your seat back until you're a cruising altitude.
And Stephen comes over, gives me little tablets before we take
off. And I take them and I'm sitting
on the plane for about 15 minutes waiting for the pot.
We see there and say there's a cup of water right in my arms.
Reach there. I'm sitting on the plane, but I
just feel so fucking stoned, right?
I'm looking at the drink of water and I can't even reach.
It's like too far away. Oh God, was he done to me?
You know, I'm like, I'm on the plane.
And that's when it starts. You get this little rumble in me
tummy. Oh shit, that doesn't feel good.
And it just started going Oh my God, right, I got to go to the
loo. So we take off anyway and I
literally just kind of slide off my seat and I crawl up the
aeroplane. I get into the jacks, close the
door and I sit down. Anyway, next I remember Bang
Bang Bang Bang bang on the door. Ronan dusters like dust.
You in there duster? I'm going you.
What's wrong with your man? I'm having a dump.
He goes. We're landing.
I've been on the jacks for 8 hours.
Imagine I'm in the first class bed and you sleep on the jacks
the whole way over. And I don't know if you've ever
tried to wipe your ass after 8 hours, but it's crusty.
It's not easy. Yeah.
Have you got those baby waves on your brain?
Sandpaper Lasagna. The Hostess is afraid to let
herself in. She knows you're going to find
to Ronan have to come and Get Me Out of the.
Time I I love what you're doing a belt see what Belfast shows
right. You always get the bands talk
about the Belfast fans are incredible and that kind of
thing is that, is that like a real thing?
Because it's got a little wildness about them, you know?
And the, you know, Dublin is obviously like your home city
crowd kind of, but it always felt like for both bands, like
Belfast was a second kind of, you know, just as much.
Could have even been better than Dublin sometimes, right?
OK. Absolutely.
They're a little bit wild, aren't they?
Yeah. And in the UK to further north
you go like Scotland like is a lot more Larry than than than.
England, maybe it's the same for comedy.
We would say the the best crudge, the best UK crowds are
like Liverpool. Yeah, Glasgow.
Manchester There's a reason you got the the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, all the comedians just had to because the audiences are
great. Yeah.
Even for the big arenas, it was always the same, like the
working class towns, you know, we're always much more.
I think people just appreciate the night outlet, their hair
down. Like, you know, I always
remember the London gigs, you know, especially in a boy band,
It was always that loud screams and the, you know, the hysteria.
But it was never as much in London.
Yep. People are a bit like, yeah,
they had to have the attitude as like we where we get to see
everything here. They're very aware of
themselves. Yeah, you're not too special.
Yeah. That's it.
They're very aware of themselves.
They won't let their hair down. Yep, you get them gone.
It's a kind of a challenge, I mean.
And when you succeed, there's a real feeling of achievement when
you get the London crowd to go I.
Remember, and I don't know if this was a nerve myth, I
remember I was talking to a security guy or guy worked in
BBC and there was some sort of story about Westlife that a gig
in Belfast for children need needed to be in Dublin airport
by a certain time. This is probably a common
occurrence for you guys who will probably don't even stand out.
But I remember him saying something like and the urban
myth, the time probably changed, but it was like he's like 41
minutes. They got them that you've got a
police escort or something. I don't know if you remember.
This that's happened a few times.
It was like a police escort and like you needed to be the
airport by a certain time. The time changes.
Next time put 13 minutes Belfast to Dublin.
We like we did a residency in the Odyssey Arena.
I think for we did, I think we did 14 nights at the Point, the
Old Point Depot and 13 nights in the Odyssey.
So we did 27 basically nights in Ireland.
And yeah, most nice, we come back, come off stage and in
Belfast and go straight back to Dublin.
But I remember we came off the King's Hall years ago and Shane
had just got himself a twin Cam Corolla with bright purple with
roll bars. And we come off stage and our
wardrobe, people would literally drag the clothes off you from
because you do four or five clothes changes within the show
and your encore outfit would be soaking because by the time you
put that on, your sweating. Yeah.
And we were doing a runner, what's called runner.
So you get out of the car park before the patrons get into
their cars and leave so that you're on the road early.
Yeah. So Shanes going right, Duster
straight off into our jocks, into the car, and we're gone.
And we grew up in the same area together in Dublin.
So the two of us, literally we're in the car, in our boxers,
no tops on harness, seatbelts. If you passed that, you probably
think you're having hallucinations.
You're like, Nah, wasn't it? The IUC putters over, I came
down, you see me and Shane bare Chester dinner.
We just played the King's Home Guard, you know what I mean?
I sure it's the lads obvious go. Like that Remember that joke
about your man comes out, comes out with the pub and he comes
back and rings the wife and the wife's looking she's doing the
iron looking at the TV and the news is on.
It's gone are the some fella bases driving the up the wrong
side of the motorway and she rings the husband says you any
way back until because yeah, she goes be careful.
They're just there's some fella driving up the wrong side of the
motorway. 1 fella, they're fucking loads.
Of them the Ulster Hall Ulster Hall is one of the best venues.
It's beautiful. We were there the other day.
You had a little look inside. It looks amazing.
It's great, Steve, steeped in history of performers before
you. That's what's great about.
Your eyes. There you go.
Led Zeppelin, that's that would have them for the first time
there. Really, a lot of the venues you
play in the UK, you know that you don't know their history.
And then till you go backstage, yeah.
And you see the posters on the back walls and the side walls of
the people that have been there before you and maybe engravings
in the wall in the dressing room.
And when you figure out who it is, you're kind of going, Oh my
God. Yeah, the Olympics like up for
me. Look start doing the Olympia
last few years and the posters they have yes of who's.
Been there the Olympia is such a stunning building like you go up
down St you have no concept that there's this beautiful concert
hall or theatre in behind the walls they're.
So close to you, like, even when it's packed.
Yeah, people furthest away feel like you could reach.
Out and touch them. Have you ever played the
Everyman in Cork? Yeah, that's the exact same
theatre. Did it for the first time.
It's, I think it's the same architect, Brian.
Is it the same architect? Maybe just a smaller version?
Smaller version. It's beautiful.
It's great. When you mentioned, I'll let you
go on a SEC. When you mentioned doing like,
what did you call it when you leave before the crowd?
Runner. We went to see Van Morrison do a
very small show on the limelight in Belfast and it was brilliant.
He was doing Gloria at the end and he was sort of go.
He finished up and he sort of say didn't say he was finishing,
but he played for ages and he was sort of like introducing his
bat. You know, he was sort of like,
you know, you do a solo, you do a solo.
So Van Morrison steps back to let them do like their own kind
of souls and stuff. And I was like, fuck, that's
that's nice of them to do that. And he steps back.
He's also having a drink of water and he come out for one
last song. So, you know, you go to the the
guitar player play for like a riff for like a minute because
over to the drummer. Does we think he was God, my
mate was like he would have been at his house by the time we were
leaving. He lives like like say he lives
a 13 minute drive. So we call with stand up now.
We called doing a Van Morrison. That's it.
Sometimes you got to say to the boys like it's a Van Morrison
tonight. Yeah, yeah.
It's just, it's a, it's a quick. Van Morrison, comedian, though,
he'd probably leave in the middle of a joke, yeah.
Just talk about putting a new music, the process of that of
like the fact that it's you 2 guys and it's not a group and
you have all the experience of having made music before, Is it
way more like laid back when you're making a track?
Is it totally different to the way you would have made tracks?
Come It's completely different in general because the music
industry has completely changed. You know, the old days of you
would make an album, then you'd bring out a single and that
would go on radio and then it would go out and it would chart
and did that's all gone. You know, like right now we're
in the middle of making an album, but we don't even really
need to make an album. We can just keep releasing the
songs because, yeah, it's literally just stream now.
So people just listen to the songs they want to listen.
Nobody's going out and buying CDs anymore.
So the whole kind of format of releasing music has completely
changed, which kind of then changes it for us as songwriters
too, because you're not really going in going.
Right. Well, we have, you know, the old
days like write a movie, you'd kind of have arcs and different
movements on an album. Now, you don't have to do that.
You don't have to sit there and go, oh, we've no ballad or we've
no up temp with that. You just write songs now.
And every song is its own individual project now.
So we'll write a song, go, yeah, we love that.
We'll put that out, make a video for it, and then we could write
something a couple of weeks later ago, right?
That's next. We'll put that out next.
So there's no bigger picture with music anymore.
Everything is kind of in the moment.
I think you tell much enjoy because like you say, you don't
need that. You don't need to be relation
music. You could.
You've got the back catalogue that you could do.
And that's, that's kind of the only thing that, you know, I
think for a while there when we were writing, we kind of said to
each other, this is bloody hard because we would have to write
something seriously amazing to take one of the number one songs
out of our setlist. You know, these songs that have
been around for 30 years. So we've kind of just figured it
out now we're just going to look, we'll constantly write
songs and then every tour we'll maybe do 2 of the new songs and
just stick with the old ones. And if, if we write something
better now than our own stuff, the original boys life stuff,
we'll swap it in and out. But you know, we, we know as
music fans ourselves, when you go and see a band, you want to
hear the hits. You don't want to hear the album
tracks, you don't want to hear the songs that they like
singing. You want to hear the bloody
hits. Yeah.
So we always make sure that we sing the songs that the people
coming to the show are going to want to hear, whether we want to
sing or not. The songs we sing.
We fucking hate singing, right? You know, songs like Mandy and
stuff like that. We hate singing My Love, but we
know absolute turds. But we know that the fans love
it. So as much as we hate singing
it, we're still going to sing it because they don't.
We don't. Really sing it anymore, do we?
We kind of just sing the first line and go, and then we go
another vodka. Can't wait for them to finish
the song. You keep singing.
Keep going. You guys do a runner your way
back to the. Mars on it.
We're gone. Yeah, I love it.
The gig in Belfast, 19th of. 1515.
First night of the World Tour, 15th January.
In Belfast. The whole tour starts in
Belfast. Yeah, for show going.
To be crazy when we sing Love me for a reason.
Yeah, you see you're coming on stage of us.
To sing that, yeah. Yeah, yeah, maybe we'll do that.
But after teaching the dance routine, that was.
You won't. Maybe it's a crazy thing.
We should. Probably do that last time.
We'll do a Van Morris. What he's saying.
You look around, we'd be gone too.
Yeah. It has the best backup band, but
we'll be gone. Huge and the crowd of God and.
It's not just me. We leave a mirror on stage for
you. That's all I need.
There you go. Thank you very, very much.
Thanks for having us. We've enjoyed it.
We'll put a link in the description below for for
tickets for the show for Alter Hall, but they won't hang a bit
long. Which ticket?
There's only a few left. That's great.
Or a few sold which is a. Few slay on the positives man.
Stay in the positive. There's a few left.
Get Milan Milan's gone from our. Lands gone from everybody.
Fucking loads left in Milan. Forget Milan, that's thank you
very much for thank. You thanks for having.
US. Thank you boys.