Review: The Vamps at O2 City Hall Newcastle
The Vamps – Sunday 8th September
Invited| Review by Robyn Watson
The Vamps have returned with a bang for their 10th ‘Meet the Vamps’ anniversary tour. This celebrates ten whole years since their debut album and we were lucky enough to see the full thing being performed last night as well as some newer tracks too! As soon as they announced the tour, the tickets flew out and seeing the size of the queue when we arrived there were some ultimate fans of The Vamps adorning many homemade t-shirts and hair bows professing their love for the band- my favourite read ‘My boyfriend is on stage’. They clearly have a huge, adoring fan base which was mainly made up of young females – I can’t lie I even felt a bit old standing in the queue.
After a considerable wait in the queue, which City Hall handled pretty well, we got inside the bustling venue and took our seats upstairs. The seating view upstairs is still a brilliant choice as you are able to see the whole stage clearly and the sound fills every corner of City Hall – a brilliant job by the sound team who are clearly very experienced in translating the music to venues of this size.
First to grace the stage was the band SOAP, also formerly known as The Tyne. Yes, a close link to the North East with their main singer hailing from Durham. The young lads have already made quite an impression on the music scene and have supported Busted on several of their gigs and tours.
They bustled onto stage full of energy and gousto and made me smile throughout their set. It’s so nice to see a band having real fun and allowing their energy to permeate the room- I really think we’re going to be hearing big things from these guys in the next few years. Their new song Funeral is due to be released later this week. They give serious Pop Punk vibes and the lead singer Ryan has the most beautiful, crystal clear voice. They ended their set with a cover of ABBA’s SOS which was just perfect- it reminded me of my days listening to the Pop Punk Goes … albums.
Up next was a very exciting act for many YouTube fans. Talia Mar is the wife of Sidemen’s Simon Miniminter. I really think the production team did a brilliant job when thinking about their target audience as they selected the support acts. So many people already knew who she was with her huge social media presence.
I was really impressed with how likeable she was as she constantly interacted with the audience between songs. She looked utterly stunning however, I could feel some nerves from her within her vocals at times but she had such a sweet, melodic voice. I particularly liked her rapping style which she showcased in her own songs. I thought her covers of Cruel Summer and TLC’s No Scrubs really made her setlist enjoyable for everyone as the audience were able to sing along- especially exciting for the Swifties. During her set she even jumped off stage to sign a fan’s poster and had trouble getting back on which she made a huge joke out of. She ended her short but sweet set with her biggest hit Stay the Night and the crowd loved it.
As we had a short wait in between you could see people excitedly waiting for The Vamps to arrive. The energy in City Hall was palpable and as the band graced the stage the whole place was filled with roaring screams and rapturous applause for the four piece. The boys, sorry men now, don’t seem to have aged a day! They started their 22 song playlist, yes it was a long one – a full two hours to be precise- with Wild Heart, their opening song from their first album. Bradley’s vocals were resonant and velvety as always and the band have certainly not forgotten how to play cohesively.
The hits continued to follow and the whole crowd devoured every single note as the boys ramped up the setlist which was a perfect blend of old and new songs. The panelled screens were used with vibrant colours and imagery fitting perfectly with the songs being played. The lighting was also dynamic and echoed every beat of the music.
Halfway through the set, they brought down all of the lighting and the set for a stripped back acoustic set. This was my favourite part of the whole gig as it felt so intimate and their voices really had a chance to shine. They did medleys of High Hopes and On the Floor and Fall and Jack. Following this in stark contrast, came a powerful epic drum solo to a backing track of Chemicals where Tristan Evans really stole the show and showed his unbelievable skills on the drum set. I loved how each member got their chance to shine individually.
Towards the end of the set, Bradley pulled out a Newcastle Retro Shirt and wore it for the rest of the gig. A really nice touch to commemorate his family from Newcastle who were in the audience watching.
This gig was a real surprise for me. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did but the electricity running through the venue from the excited fans really made this a one off night of entertainment. The Vamps are crazily talented and showcased this perfectly last night. I hope all the super fans enjoy the rest of the tour as much as I did!