Boyzone are back to make the Castle rock

Eight years after split, 90s boy band make up for lost time.

'THEY weren't too unfocused were they?" fretted Boyzone's tour manager as the members of the 90s boyband spilled from the ornate Court Marshall Room high above the Castle Esplanade and the 8500 seats they hope to fill on July 18.

They weren't. Well, not all of them. Although Mikey's constant texting and Stephen's whispered asides to his fellow pop stars suggested that, just maybe, their minds were wandering.

And who could blame them, after all, their current reunion is one that not just fans, but some band members too, doubted they would ever see. Yet here they are. Approaching the end of the first leg of a tour that has seen them 'hit', to quote Ronan, "all the major cities throughout the UK".

Just less than an hour earlier, they had watched, with fingers in ears, as the one o'clock gun was discharged. A photocall ensued, much to the delight of unsuspecting tourists who suddenly had an extra-special memento of their trip to Auld Reekie.

Ten minutes on and the band, who reformed for Children In Need 2007 after an eight-year break during which they all trod very different paths, are sitting in the wood panelled grandeur of the Castle's Gatehouse.

On the right is 33-year-old Keith Duffy, who went on to become a soap star as Coronation Street barman Ciaran McCarthy.

To his left, Stephen Gatley, 32, now a musical theatre performer. In the middle is the walking body art that is tattooed Shane Lynch, 32 yesterday, who reinvented himself as racing driver and won ITV's The Games. Ronan Keating, 31, whose solo career allegedly fuelled the break-up of the band, is next, while perched on the end is Mikey Graham who, having set up his own recording studio and turned to acting after the spilt, reportedly suffered a breakdown. Or as the oldest of the gang, at 35, once told the Times Magazine, "I went through a very weird time of maximum emotion."

Today, he is probably the most laid back of the five-piece, certainly the most candid when asked what they each missed most during their self-imposed hiatus. Keith, however, is first with an answer.

"The camaraderie between us," he says instantly. "That was the one thing that I missed. We were five individuals experiencing the same highs and lows for so long, then it was gone.

"That was very difficult for a couple of years. Also, there is an energy you get from an audience that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck, and it was gone. We all went onto other satisfying jobs, but for me, nothing ever amounted to the amazing feeling of performing on stage with these four gentlemen."

Stephen, meanwhile, admits that he didn't expect to feel how he does, now he's back on the road. "It's just unbelievable. I'd forgotten what that feeling was and the crowds are electric. When you're doing a musical there are certain times when the audience is silent – there's no one song in a Boyzone gig when that happens."

For Shane, it was the friendships. "I had forgotten the feelings I had for the fellas. Just in the sense of the fun we have when we are together. The jokes, the laughs, the understanding that we share with just a little look or a gesture that, in certain situations, speak a thousand words."

Despite his solo success, Ronan, too, missed his days in a boyband – well, one specific aspect of it, to be precise.

He muses, "I was doing really well but it was like the volume had been turned down. The hysteria had disappeared somewhere between going from boyband to solo artist.

"But what I really missed was being in our own little bubble – like Keith says, the camaraderie, and like Shano says, the friendships that we shared which were very special.

"It was easy to forget about them when you're busy in your own world. You move on. But as soon as we got back into 'Boyzone World' it was there. I thought, 'God, I've missed this'.

"We're different people when the five of us are together, it's a real special dynamic."

And so to Mikey, who thinks for a second before confessing, "The last eight years away from the band I certainly didn't miss it at all. It wasn't until we got back together and that sense of humour came back again that I realised what I'd missed."

Despite that confession, Mikey himself was a driving force when it came to bringing the performers back together – all thanks to Take That's reunion tour.

"It was the Take That reunion that reminded me just how loud it could be," chips in Ronan, before Mikey takes up the tale.

"The Take That reunion was certainly one of the catalysts," he says. "I suppose since we broke up, somewhere in the back of all our minds was the thought that maybe we might one day do something else together.

"Seeing their show was weird. It was weird to be sitting in the audience experiencing it from the other side. I kind of felt, jealous is the wrong word, but I knew I'd missed it. So I called Shane straight after the show and said, 'We've got to start think about doing something and chatting to the other guys'. Ronan had seen the Take That show too and felt the same. So it certainly got us moving forward with the idea."

Ironically, when manager Louis Walsh first manufactured Boyzone in 1994, they were often regarded as Ireland's answer to Take That and, despite the now infamous dance-athon on RTE's The Late Late Show, they went on to have 16 consecutive Top 5 hits, including six No 1 singles and four chart-topping albums in the UK.

Keith continues the comeback story. "It wasn't something that happened suddenly. It was a gradual thing, we've put this together over the last two years," he reveals.

"When we broke up we did plan to get back, but one year turned into two and then three . . .

"The first time we all got back together was when Shane was performing on The Games. He had a good shot at winning and we had all been watching on the telly. We got in touch with each other and agreed to support him.

"The four of us turned up in the stands for the final night – Shane had no idea we were going to be there, and he won. Watching the Irish flag going up and hearing the national anthem was a very proud moment for him I'd imagine, but also for us. That was the first night that we all sat down and had a drink and a chat."

That meeting allowed the band to put the past behind them. "There was certain a amount of rediscovery that we all had to do," admits Shane. "Eight years is a long time, but coming back together it was a delight to understand that a lot of the good part of what we were back in the day was very much still there.

"We had been young, foolish and had a lot of immaturity – certainly I did – and it was nice to come back into the situation with a fresh, positive mind and the understanding that we are all big grown men now - except for one of us, and he knows who he is."

They all laugh as the diminutive Stephen offers, "That's me," after which Shane concludes, "We now have a better understanding of what buttons not to push anymore."

However, it was Boyzone's one-off comeback for Children In Need last year that convinced them they could still hack it as a touring band. Keith says, "We took a week out of our schedules, rehearsed, and it was just like the old days."

"It was always something that had been at the back of my mind. Something I'd dream of from time to time – but I didn't allow myself to get lost thinking about it. Thank God it happened. It's given us all a new lease of life."

Ronan agrees, "It's lovely to be back. Right now we're coasting – all the reviews have been brilliant and the shows have gone down really well. The next step is the greatest hits album, that's going to be a real challenge – two new songs. That will bring a new dynamic to the band. That will be the real test. That's when we will see if this band can take it." And for those at the Castle on July 18, he promises, "This time, we've tried to set a standard for Boyzone and raise the bar from the shows we used to put on. I think we have definitely risen above it and put on the best show we can which is very exciting."

With that, the time had come for the Irish quintet to head to their cars, Ronan promising to take them all to The Witchery when they return while pausing to accommodate the obligatory autograph and photo requests that accompany their every move.

"You get used to it," offers Shane as he quietly pulls his hoodie over his head and strides anonymously across the esplanade to the waiting people carriers.

Ronan meanwhile, is still on the drawbridge, draped in another eagle-eyed fan desperate for a picture.

• Boyzone, Edinburgh Castle, Esplanade, Friday July 18, gates 7pm, £40-£45, 0844-847 2269