Westlife or Backstreet Boys? Fans troubled after boybands set same-day Manila concerts

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino fans are seemingly torn between which throwback concert to attend as the Backstreet Boys and Westlife will be performing on the same night.

The Backstreet Boys announced last week that Manila was included in their "DNA World Tour 2023" where they will perform in Mall of Asia Arena on February 20, 2023.

Fans later realized that was the same date as Westlife's previously announced first concert date in Araneta Coliseum that sold out in two days, prompting a second show on February 21 due to popular demand.

As such, fans began contemplating which of the two concerts to go to, reminding everyone of the subtle rivalry both boybands had in their heyday.

"Holding concerts on literally the same day... takes us back to major early 2000s bubblegum pop rivalry you’d love to see it," wrote one fan on Twitter while another said, "I smell a concert war coming... Boyband concert war is waving."

Westlife and the Backstreet Boys holding concerts on literally the same day in Manila on February 20, 2023 takes us back to major early 2000s bubblegum pop rivalry you’d love to see it pic.twitter.com/C8l99jwHiH

— Nicol (@nikowl) November 1, 2022

Other fans begged the Backstreet Boys to have a second day as well; before Manila, the boyband will be in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on February 18 and after Manila, will go to Singapore on February 22, so the schedule is really tight.

Westlife, on the other hand, ended up adding a third date, February 18, for their Singapore trip, then will be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on February 23.

Both groups last visited the Philippines in 2019; Westlife performed in July while the Backstreet Boys performed later on in October.

The Backstreet Boys are continuing to tour their 10th studio album "DNA" and recently released their first-ever Christmas album.

Westlife's "Wildest Dreams Tour" will feature their new singles "Starlight" and "Alone Together," as well as some of their hits like "Swear It Again," "If I Let You Go," "Fool Again," and "When You're Looking Like That."

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