Shane Filan 'excited' for upcoming solo concert in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Shane Filan is excited for his upcoming first solo concert here in the Philippines.

In a phone interview with philstar.com on Tuesday, Shane said that Philippines was included in his “You and Me Album Tour” because of the warm response of the Filipinos to his debut album of the same title.

“I have a really big crowd in the Philippines!” he exclaimed. “My fans there are so supportive. I wanna go back and put on a great show and give them really good memories.”

The concert will happen on October 1 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, where the 35-year-old singer will perform “songs from my album, [and] of course you've got to do Westlife songs for the fans, they want to hear that as well.”

Shane admitted taht it is not easy being a solo artist, especially since “I've been a part of a group for a long time.”

“But so far going solo, it was a lot of fun,” he added. “You keep trying to be better, that's one big advantage. So that's what I want, I want to have better songs, I want to have a better album. But it takes time, you know, it takes time doing songs. You got to travel, it's a lot of hard work.”

He's also thankful for the people's warm response to his first solo album. He admits that “It's not something I'm prepared to [do]. But that's what I wanted, for it to go well, the people to like my album, and now doing a concert, that's important."

Although Shane's still busy promoting his first album, he's already planning for the next one, which he hopes will be released by 2015.

“I think it's always good to keep planning ahead,” he said. “I've been a solo artist for a year now, and I think I should start thinking about the future now. Every spare time I get I want to be in the studio and work n music for 2015. It's a lot of work.”

Before his interview ended, Shane gave a message to his fans: “Come and enjoy the concert! It's gonna be a  fun night. You're gonna hear my songs, Westlife songs. It's my first solo concert in the Philippines so I hope everyone could come and check it out.”