Ronan Keating Wembley Arena, London
13 May 2001
As a solo performer the prince of ballads Ronan Keating has never been prone to much dancing around but even with his more upbeat Gregg Alexander tunes he still doesn't do very much. OK, there's the odd leg spasm in time with a drumbeat but he's more poser then performer. In fact his sparkling new white teeth are the real stars tonight as they are beamed across the Wembley Arena on huge TV screens to keep the screaming fans happy. Ronan races through his solo material with a nonchalant swagger with only US album track Some Day generating any scream-inducing movement from the blonde one. He takes a break to mention Boyzone and states, 'Whatever's been said in the press, it's Boyzone that has got me here tonight,' and so off he runs to reappear in an explosion of smoke wearing a long white leather coat crooning Boyzone hits A Picture Of You and Baby Can I Hold You. Love Me For a Reason comes next and it's greeted with a less than enthusiastic response from the audience as Gately's part is replaced by a rotating carousel of backing singers. Having ditched the white leather coat Ronan reclines on the stage to bask in the glory of his own solo hits When You Say Nothing At All and Lovin' Each Day before getting a bit more energetic for a new song called I Love The Way We Do What We Do which is essentially Lovin' Each Day but with a slightly heavier chorus. For the encore a huge light bulb sign spelling out RONAN appears above the stage and the familiar bars of Rollercoaster usher the new Elvis of pop back out. The best bit of the whole night is when Ronan is attached to some wires and flies, sometimes unintentionally somersaulting, across the nervous looking crowd to a platform where he says, 'I thought I should and come and sing a song for you at the back here.' As admirable as this entertaining move is, the poor people at the back are then subjected to sleepwalking version of Ronan's 'favourite song of 1999', Blur's Tender. Having been ping-ed back to the main stage again, Ronan signs off with The Long Goodbye and his 100th 'God bless you all' of the night but, apart from the hysterical mums and daughters, we all file out with the general feeling of being pleasantly entertained rather than blessed.
From WorldPop
