Boyzone reunite 20 years on

Boyzone announced towards the end of last month that the will reunite for their 20th anniversary with a tour  of the UK and Ireland and tickets are finally going on sale this week. I expect a huge number of women in their 20s and 30s will be receiving tickets from their other halves in the coming months and perhaps attempting to squeeze into old Boyzone memorabilia. My t-shirt has long since been given away, but the memories, and some photos, remain.

Boyzone were formed in 1993 by Louis Walsh and their first album Said and Done was released in 1994. They were hugely successful in the years following and had a total of 9 number one singles in Ireland. Hearts broke across Ireland and the UK when they announced they were 'taking a break' in 2000. Since then they have reunited for two tours as a five piece in 2008 and 2009 and once more in 2011 for the Brothers tour in after the death of Stephen Gately.

The original Boyzone 

I couldn't decide whether I was happy or not that they were touring for their anniversary. The Brother tour was all well and good as it was a tribute to Stephen but I'm not so sure about this 20th anniversary tour. What is Boyzone without Stephen Gately? I can't believe it will be four years this year since Gately passed away. Stephen was probably my first ever crush and was always my favourite member of Boyzone. Looking back now, I wonder why Shane Lynch never caught my eye. Shane Lynch in those dungarees on The Late Late Show is a sight to behold; but as a 4 year old girl Stephen's innocent, 'wouldn't hurt a fly' look was way more up my street. His floppy hairstyle was also all the rage and all the girls in senior infants and first class had a crush on the boy with the same haircut. Ah, the 1990s what an innocent age. My friend and I even wrote a letter to the boys telling them how much we loved them, I found it many, many years later in my mother's keepsakes and even then I was a little upset that she'd decided to keep it. So the boys never got to know my true feelings, but here's my chance as a grown woman to scream 'I love you' probably from a fully seated performance. (You know you're old when you're going to fully seated performances.)

Stephen and that hair

In  this tour the lads will play Dublin's O2 on the 28th of November and Belfast's Odyssey Arena on the 29th of November along with a number of dates in December in the UK. It's sure to be a great show full of women reliving their childhood pretending to be girls again and grown men pretending they're still boys - but there's nothing new there.

Tickets are going on sale at 9am this Thursday the 14th of February, otherwise known as Valentine's Day, so, if by chance, my secret admirer is reading this, you now know the way to this girl's heart.

What are your thoughts on Boyzone - the foursome - hitting the road again?