Brian McFadden and Ronan Keating are teaming up again and touring throughout March. Source: National Features
WHEN Ronan Keating met a 15 year old Brian McFadden in 1995 one was a popstar fronting a successful boyband (Boyzone) and the other in a boy band (Westlife) desperate to be a success.
Keating first saw Westlife, featuring a young McFadden, when they rehearsed in a nightclub in Dublin.
He'd go on to co-manage Westlife, who sold 50 million records before splitting last year.
"I remember Ronan walked in and he was going through a cowboy phase so he had this cowboy hat on,'' McFadden says. "I remember giving him stick about it. But the five of us were standing around him in a circle, he was giving us a little chat. I remember we were all beady eyed as this superstar was talking to us about our music.''
Westlife played their first shows supporting Boyzone; fast-forward to 2013 and McFadden is re-introducing himself to the UK and Ireland again opening for Keating.
"It's a great testament to how Ronan's stuck by me through my entire career,'' McFadden says. "I have so much respect for Ronan. I do a bit of stand up in my show and I take the piss out of him between every songs, because we're friends he doesn't mind but it gives me great material for the banter with the crowd.''
After moving to Australia with former partner Delta Goodrem, McFadden's been more famous in the UK for his personal life than his music. Between his ex-wife Kerry Katona (whose main employment is writing a venomous gossip column) and Twitter wars, McFadden hasn't toured or released music in that market for seven years.
When Keating suggested opening for his UK and Ireland tour, McFadden was concerned.
"I sh-t myself before the first show,'' he says. "I didn't know if I'd get booed or not. It's a Ronan audience. I didn't know if they'd want to see me or not. When Ronan first announced I was coming on tour with him there were a lot of great positive tweets.
"Twitter's great for a rough gauge of people's responses. There were a few `I'm going to make sure I get there late now' so I thought `What if I go out there and they boo'. They might judge me on what they’ve read in the papers for years. But I didn't get one single heckle. By the end of it I was getting amazing reception, standing ovations, huge cheers.
"People Tweeted me after saying `I didn't really like you before the show tonight but I'm going to buy your album and it's good to see you back'. Once you go and see people face to face and perform for them they remember why they liked you in the first place and forget about anything negative they have towards you.''
Keating says the reaction has lifted McFadden's confidence.
"It was a bit unknown for him, like starting over. He didn't know what he was getting himself in for. But he's in the room with my audience, it's a perfect scenario. He's been welcomed with open arms.
"He's getting an amazing reaction every night. And Brian's a great singer. I don't think people realise how great a singer he is.''
McFadden is playing with a stripped back band and is performing Westlife songs for the first time in years.
"I've fallen in love with the Westlife songs again,'' he says. "When you do them with five guys with all the backing vocals and big strings and production the songs have a diffrent feel. When you break them down acoustically they're lovely songs to sing. My favorite song to do on the whole tour has been (Westlife's) Flying Without Wings. Now the boys have split up it feels OK for me to sing Westlife songs. We're all former members of Westlife now, it feels like I'm allowed to sing them again.''
The move of Australia's Got Talent from Channel 7 to Channel 9 has allowed McFadden to concentrate on returning to the live arena to promote his covers album The Irish Connection.
"This tour is reminding myself that I'm a musician,'' he says. "I'd forgotten I was. I got to the UK and worked out I hadn't done a proper gig in Australia since I toured with Stevie Nicks 18 months ago. Musicians shouldn't go that long without doing a gig.
"If I was doing AGT I wouldn't be doing this now, this is my real love, singing on stage, performing to a live audience, making albums that's what I do best. I'm doing what I love doing.''
The Irish Connection also sees Keating and McFadden duet on a cover of U2's All I Want is You.
"I loved that song when it came out,'' Keating says. "It is sacred ground but we tried to make it our own as best we could. We're not trying to better it, you can't better a U2 song.''
McFadden says he deliberately steered away from U2's One or With or Without You.
"Me and Ronan would probably get a pass from Bono. Bono alawys has a soft spot for fellow Irish artists. If I'm doing an Irish album it doesn't get any more Irish than Boyzone and Westlife guys singing a U2 song.''
Like McFadden, Keating has made a career doing TV in Australia.
He's in negotiations to return to The X Factor this year, although he starts a 20th anniversary UK and Ireland Boyzone tour on November 28.
"The X Factor is on the cards, we're in talks,'' he says. "I'd love to do it again.''
Keating now has a Sydney-based girlfriend, Storm Uechtritz, while McFadden plans to spend the next year between Australia and the UK.
"Whenever something goes wrong in someone from Ireland's life they end up getting shipped to Australia don't they?,'' McFadden says. "Whenever things get hairy over there we all get on a plane to Australia.''
HEAR The Irish Connection (Universal) out March 1.
NSW
SEE: Ronan Keating, with Brian McFadden, State Theatre, March 4. $99/$139, Ticketmaster. The Concourse, March 5. $99, Ticketek. Panthers Penrith March 9, $112, penrith.panthers.com.au
QLD
SEE: Ronan Keating, with Brian McFadden. Brisbane Riverstage, March 7. $99/$139, Ticketmaster. Jupiters Gold Coast, March 10. $89/$99, Ticketek.
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