The Vamps, Nottingham

It started with drummer Tristan pounding out the beat by himself – until his good mates turned up to really get the party started… 

The anticipation was palpable among the young audience at the Arena: No longer pop newbies, The Vamps are veritable veterans. 

With a giant video screen bringing life to the back of the stage, they also employed a central T-shaped catwalk through the excitable crowd to create a section in front of the first seats to get even closer to their fans. 

Seated area? There wasn’t much sitting down going on for this mostly high-energy show. 

Those four cheeky lads Brad Simpson, James McVey, Connor Ball and Tristan Evans, clad in casual shirts with trendy suit trousers, bounded about and made the girls scream – and so they should. It was a pacey night with a sprinkling of pyrotechnics throughout and plenty of audience interaction. 

It’s their fifth tour and after padding out some earlier ones with other people’s hits, they have a few top-sellers of their own to lay claim to these days. 

Named after their double album Night And Day, the setlist was packed with familiar tunes, with Last Night and Can We Dance, both from the early days featuring at the start of the show, and Somebody to You then Cecilia rounding off the main set. Special guest Maggie Lindemann linked up for a couple of collaborations and the boys supported her own hit Pretty Girl. 

It was a long night with support acts PM (described by my 14-year-old as rocky and upbeat), HRVY (crystal clear vocalist), New Hope Club (friendly boy band fodder) and Jacob Sartorius (a bit of a let-down after what had gone before) – and there will be a few tired eyes as the fans head back into school today, with a 10.30pm finish plus encores. 

But The Vamps left their best till last, the very last item of the encore – All Night – delivered to a shower of blue and red ticker tape from the skies, sending the tweenagers home very happy indeed. 

Set list:

·         Staying Up

·         Last Night

·         Shades On

·         Can We Dance

·         Middle of the Night

·         Just My Type

·         Personal

·         (with Maggie Lindemann)

·         Pretty Girl

·         (with Maggie Lindemann)

·         Hands

·         Wild Heart

·         Hair Too Long

·         FRIENDS / New Rules / Havana

·         Drum Solo

·         Golden

·         (James and Connor, chosen by a Twitter poll)

·         Somebody to You

·         Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart)

Encore:

·         Wake Up

·         Same To You

·         All Night