I’ve been going to see The Vamps since their very first proper tour in 2014, and therefore through my years of blogging, seem to have written a fair few concert reviews of them (for all my shows but the fanfest, which for some reason I never wrote a post about). For this year’s Night & Day tour, I went to the last night of their tour, in Manchester, making it the seventh time I’ve been to see them.
My view this time was a little different though – the past three times I have been to see them in Manchester Arena, I have either had Wow Pit tickets (standing right at the front of the stage), or done a meet and greet with seats in the best blocks, but this year I decided to go for the cheaper tickets, which still gave me a good view in Block 108 row C. I had actually sat in the exact same seats for The Script a few months earlier, so I knew the view was decent, straight across to the stage.
Of course, this was a little different, what with being so close to The Vamps usually, but with their long stage that extends out they came close quite often. Unlike most bands, The Vamps have not one, not two, but a mighty four support acts (I’m not so sure why one band would need so much support).
The best of the bunch was probably HRVY, with his catchy song Personal. We were also treated (I use that word loosely) by No Hope Club (last night of tour means prank night, and I have to say the new name for New Hope Club needs to stick) and Jacob Satorious, who managed to earn my award of world’s worst support act, which is quite the feat after The Tide on the other Vamps’ tours, so well done Jacob.
The Vamps came on at around 9pm, Brad, of course, bursting on like a ball of energy to a newer song Staying Up. It’s a collaboration with DJ Matoma, therefore not one of my favourite songs of theirs, but I got well into the set by the time the next song, classic Last Night started. I loved that they played so many of their old hits such as Can We Dance and Wild Heart throughout the set, as they have always been my favourites.
The band also played some new songs, such as Just My Type, which will be on their latest album, the Day edition of Night & Day, coming this July. It certainly made the new album sound promising and worth a listen when it comes out.
A highlight definitely for me was Conor Maynard’s appearance on the stage when he performed with The Vamps a cover sing-off, similar to the ones he does on his YouTube channel. He only performed at the Manchester and London nights and it was such a treat, especially since he was such a good support act for them on the 2016 tour.
Another thing different about the Manchester date, which Brad, James and Connor claimed they didn’t know was going to happen, was drummer Tristan’s performance – he got off from the drums and performed his track ‘Come Grind With Me’, off his version of the Night & Day album. Certainly not my cup of tea, but the crowd went crazy and you can tell he really enjoyed doing it.
The most touching moment of the whole night was their tribute to Manchester with a cover of One Last Time, which Brad performed on the piano. It was really moving that they did that, and definitely made me tear up more than a little.
Overall, seeing The Vamps for my seventh time was definitely fun, it didn’t seem to be as exciting as their previous tours, with a lack of exciting graphics and video sequences, but saying that it could just be because I had worse seats this time. The Vamps are always amazing live and that’s why I have gone to see them time and time again. I feel like their new direction of music isn’t really for me, but they played so much old music on tour it didn’t really matter.
