o2 Academy, Bournemouth, 18/09/2024
All photos by Katie Hillier. Please do not repost without permission.
A decade has passed since we were holding our hands up high, throwing our glass up to the sky and questioning what the hell happened last night… But on 18th September, for one night only, The Vamps brought 2014 back to Bournemouth’s o2 Academy.
Everywhere you look, there’s an original The Vamps tour t-shirt from coming up ten years ago. Just the wearers are now young adults, and the fresh-faced graphics of the four boys we were introduced to on debut album, Meet The Vamps, are now fully grown, their songs now distant memories of the highs and lows of teenage house parties and attempts to ‘romance’.
It’s a night deep-rooted in nostalgia from the get-go. Even the support band we’re no stranger to; now performing under the name SOAP, the first support of the evening has previously supported The Vamps on tour under the band name The Tyne.
With their high-energy pop-punk tracks with infectious hooks, SOAP are already amassing a dedicated fanbase. New single, Funeral gets the crowd going from the beginning, whilst ear-worm, Get Out Of My House is complete with simple TikTok-style choreography, really engaging the audience. Phone torches light the academy up for sing-along moment, Awkward Now, before their punk-rock reimagining of ABBA’s SOS closes them out.
All photos by Katie Hillier. Please do not repost without permission.
Talia Mar is up next with catchy pop tunes allowing the crowd to have a dance and sing-along before the main event. Playing hits such as Stay The Night, her chart-topping single with Sigala, as well as Sweet Lies, she makes full use of the empty stage, even leaning from its edge into the front rows, and interacting with the crowd between every song.
Similar to SOAP, she also caters to the crowd demographic with a cover of Taylor Swift’s Cruel Summer, which is sung back to her with such passion, it was as if we were at the eras tour.
All photos by Katie Hillier. Please do not repost without permission.
You’d think the whole production would be an insincere, auto-tuned, lip-syncing mess. But leave any preconceptions at the door; there’s no highly polished dance routines, there’s (no longer) skin tight jeans, nor is there much in the way of at-risk-of-lung-collapse screaming here.
It may come as a surprise, but they’re accomplished musicians, every member of the band solidifying their individual talents: there’s rock guitar solos, guitarist James McVey takes over vocal duties for Move My Way, and drummer Tristan Evans even has his own three-minute drum solo mid-set.
And frontman, Bradley Simpson, shines. It’s impossible to imagine him doing anything other than being onstage, and you get the sense from the get-go, that with the crowd in the palm of his hand, hanging onto his every word, undeniably he’s a born performer.
All photos by Katie Hillier. Please do not repost without permission.
A low-level whisper chant, “meet The Vamps” begins following Whitney Houston’s classic, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, being blasted over the PA. As the band take to the stage, we’re transported straight back, the show opening as the album does, with Wild Heart. Arms and phones go straight up into the air, the crowd reciprocating the band’s unwavering energy instantly, the lyrics giving us an idea for how tonight’s going to go; Tonight we’ll dance/I’ll be yours and you’ll be mine/We won’t look back/Take my hand and we will shine”
After all, it’s those in the crowd holding the most significance tonight, Simpson even making a speech about how it was the album we’re celebrating tonight that a decade ago, brought all of us together for the first time.
And it’s evident the entire tour’s been put together with the fans at the very centre, connection being valuable for both band and fans alike. Simpson plays to this, always encouraging the crowd to sing back louder, holding onto the hands of those in the front rows, reading signs and always being anywhere but where the mic-stand is. It’s a room bursting at the seams with love.
All photos by Katie Hillier. Please do not repost without permission.
Deep-cut Jack is a prime example of the value the band have for their fans. An unreleased song that had previously not been played live, it made its way into the set due to its status as a fan-favourite, and really earns its place among the most dedicated in the crowd, every word being screamed as though it was their biggest hit.
Fittingly, it’s also one of the more representative songs of the era, the lyrics narrating fears about a love-interest’s much classier boyfriend said to “drink Daniels at the bar” and “wear clothes with Wills on the tag”, a brand all the rage back then amongst boyband lovers, potentially thanks to One Direction’s X Factor side quests.
However, the cornerstone of the Meet The Vamps 10 year tour is arguably the track that started it all.
“Is anyone here on a date?” Asks Simpson, standing up at the white grand piano personalised by fans at VIP events over the years. He sets the scene - maybe you’re on a first date, and when you’re on a first date, there’s often a lot of drinking involved. The crowd erupt then, knowing exactly what’s about to unfold. “But you can talk a lot of shit when you’re drinking.” He warns.
He plays that all too familiar chorus of the same words, inaudible over the crowd’s vocals, before momentarily disappearing. Confusion washes over the crowd as they realise, before screams come from the period balconies above and Simpson begins running along the front rows stopping to lean down and serenade those below and hanging onto the hands of those amongst him. It’s complete chaos, the frontman reemerging where he’s supposed to be completely out of breath afterwards, but it’s become expectation during this tour. As the crowd filled up pre-show, fans were placing predictions as to what parts of the venue Simpson could possibly turn into his own playground, support act, Talia Mar, even weighing in, suggesting he’d be climbing on the speakers (she would be correct).
All photos by Katie Hillier. Please do not repost without permission.
It’s not all carnage though; Shout About It sees phone torches lighting up the Academy, complete with stripped-back vocals, softer harmonies and atmospheric slide guitar. Maybe it’s the new-found maturity of the vocals, but you get a sense of sincerity, despite the heights the band have reached these past ten years.
But ultimately, it’s all comes from a place of reciprocated appreciation, between both band and fans, and member to member, making the show feel so special, and elevating the performance further than just the standard of which the music is executed is the audience interaction that happens between almost every song.
Tonight’s show is in McVey’s hometown, his family and friends in house, really adding to the reminiscing. The band continuously instruct the crowd to wave up to his mum sitting in one of the boxes, often referring to her as “the queen”.
“Thank you for having us over the years.” Simpson acknowledges in her direction, before confessing; “Also, I know we haven’t really addressed it; it was me who put the hole in the ceiling with the guitar, so I’m sorry about that, I hope it’s been fixed.”
And ultimately he turns to address the crowd once again: “Bournemouth has always had such a special place in our hearts, it’s been part of the band’s make-up and it’s an absolute blessing to be able to come back and play for you. It means the world.”
“I feel like we’ve had a good time, a good night, we’ve made some memories.” He concludes before introducing the final song of the night, Somebody To You, offering one final party. Simpson encourages everyone in the standing area to put their phones away, get on each other’s shoulders and put their arms in the air, to which they obviously oblige.
It’s these final moments of pure euphoria that encapsulate the true essence of The Vamps show and their continued importance within pop music.
Each song in the set fulfilled the nostalgic element of the tour, and I’m sure we’ll get our old tour shirts out the drawer again and sing all these songs together in another ten. But if not, we’re reminded that If tomorrow never comes, we will always have last night.
KATIE HILLIER
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