Hellooo! This post is going to follow on from Part 1 of my review of The Vamps' Four Corners UK Tour at Hull's Bonus Arena, with this being all about the main event - THE VAMPS! The idea behind the Four Corners UK Tour was to cover all the usual arenas, along with a longer list of smaller venues, allowing The Vamps to cover more of the UK. The smaller venues were described as giving an 'exciting closer up experience' and I was VERY excited when I saw that Hull's Bonus Arena was one of them! I got my tickets from The Vamps' presale last July and got through to book them right as they went on sale, somehow managing to get FRONT ROW! I couldn't believe my eyes, I've never been front row at a concert before and couldn't believe my luck! I got seats A 19-20 for £35 each and including fees and postage, they came to £83.35 in total for both tickets (so around
£41.68 each), which I thought was a bargain for front row! Now some of my pictures are better than others however, I told myself I would focus on enjoying the night rather than concentrating on trying to get good pictures, which I definitely did! The whole night was incredible and I LOVED it! Anyway, onto the review!
We entered the arena without a problem and the merchandise and drinks stands weren't too busy so we got to our seats pretty quickly! While being directed to our seats, a very helpful member of security told us we would get gold wristbands as we were front row but we didn't know if he was being serious or not, turns out he was! The floor of the arena was all seated and only front row were allowed to stand at the barrier so we were given gold wristbands which were checked throughout the night! Earlier on in the day, we found out that Connor wouldn't be performing as he had been
injured by a chair (he opened a box with a new chair in and the chair sprung out, hitting him in the arm) and because of this, Brad's microphone stand was moved to Connor's position and the keyboard was moved to the right of Tristan's drums, rather than the left. This meant that the keyboard was now on our side and Brad was directly in front of us! It was strange seeing just Brad, James and Tristan on stage however, they put on no less of a performance and the whole night was INCREDIBLE! I hope Connor makes a full recovery soon and stays away from unpredictable chairs!
The band made a VERY dramatic entrance, with rumbling bass and flashing lights, before spotlights illuminated their silhouettes behind the curtain draped across the front of the stage. The audience roared and the curtain dropped as The Vamps launched into their first song of the night, Just My Type! It was the perfect song to open with as it was full of energy and had everyone singing and dancing along! The next song The Vamps sung was Personal, with the final chorus being performed by Brad on the keyboard! It gave him a chance to talk to the audience before singing the final chorus and I really liked the variation on the studio version!
Wild Heart was next, taking the band back to their first album! The Vamps' second single had everyone jumping and it was SO GOOD! I loved it! The next song, For You saw Brad return to his piano with a performance that showed just how much strength he has in his voice! All The Lies was next, another song which I LOVE! During the last few lines of the final chorus, the band stripped back the song to acapella and I don't know why but that moment has stuck with me! There's a short pause between 'one time before I go' and 'whisper it slow' and for that second, the whole arena was silent, with only the echo of The Vamps' voices ringing in the air. It was incredible to hear the whole venue singing along with no instruments, followed by silence before the next line. I don't know how to explain it but it was just incredible! Lyndsey (my bestie who I was with) captured it on video (which you can see here) but I'm not sure it fully comes across on camera!
Next was a song which originally a collaboration between The Vamps and Sigala titled We Don't Care! I loved this song when I first heard it and loved the live version of it! At the end of the song, Brad and James left the stage, with the song leading seamlessly into Tristan's drum solo! I love that Tristan always gets his solo moment on tour and I loved his solo on the Four Corners UK Tour! The lighting was incredible and definitely suited his performance! Following Tristan's drum
solo, he left the stage and was replaced by Brad and James, who performed an acoustic rendition of one of their earlier singles, Somebody to You! I loved the acoustic version of this track as it suited the song well and I loved how the acoustic performance highlighted the harmonies between Brad and James! Waves was supposed to be the next track on the setlist however, on this tour it is sung by Connor and with him being injured, there wasn't enough time to rework the song and so they didn't play it. I was looking forward to hearing Waves live SO much as I LOVE the song however, I completely understand why they didn't play it and it didn't feel like the show missed it, if that makes sense!
Middle of the Night was next, one of my favourites from The Vamps! I LOVED their performance of the song, which saw James take a wander over to our side, along with Brad dancing all across the stage! What Your Father Says was next on the setlist, which I think was added on the second date of this tour and I LOVED the performance! As with a lot of The Vamps music, this track was full of energy and had the whole arena singing along and dancing! Next up was Right Now from the band's latest EP, Missing You. The live version of the track, which was originally a collaboration with Krept & Konan, includes Brad performing their rapped verses! I love that this
demonstrated Brad's vocal flexibility and I really enjoyed the performance! Next up was Hair Too Long, which we actually saw the first live performance of on their last tour (little review here) and I LOVE this song! I loved hearing it live just as much as the first time and it was another amazing performance! The Vamps' debut single was next and this performance of Can We Dance included the addition of an instrumental section before the final chorus! I loved the twist on the original on the original version of the song and it emphasised the talent of the whole band! Wake Up completed the main section of the performance, a song which I always think is AMAZING live! Wake Up is always a crowd favourite and I love that they chose to end the main set on it! It was SO GOOD!
Following their main set, The Vamps left the stage before returning shortly after to sing Cheater! It was the perfect way to begin the encore and I love how it followed on from Wake Up! Next was Risk It All and although Brad sang the wrong lyrics in the first verse, I LOVED the performance! Risk It All has always been one of my favourites from The Vamps' debut album and this performance definitely did not disappoint! The penultimate song of the night was Missing You, which saw Brad return to his piano as the band dedicated the song to Connor! I LOVE this song SO much and was looking forward to seeing the live version and it was SO GOOD! Brad sung it perfectly and I LOVED James' backing vocals! I also loved that Tristan had
Connor on Facetime throughout the performance! All Night closed the show, which was the perfect song to end on! It had everyone dancing and I loved it!
I LOVED the screens behind the band! I liked that there was a mix of animations, lyrics and videos of the band! The videos were all such high quality and I loved them! The screens worked perfectly with the lighting display, along with the songs performed by the band. Speaking of lighting, I LOVED the lighting throughout the show! There were lights framing the stage and I also loved the lighting panels along the bottom of Tristan's stage, which were automated and looked very impressive when combined with the rest of the staging! The show didn't have any pyrotechnics or confetti however, it didn't feel like it needed it and I loved the overall production behind the show! The sound was also spot on throughout the show and there were no audible problems.
Overall, I LOVED the setlist! The Vamps had a great mix, with plenty of new songs mixed with tracks from the band's back catalogue.
The setlist also flowed between songs well from start to finish and I couldn't fault it! They didn't play a cover like they normally do, however they definitely didn't need to and I liked that they put different twists on their older tracks! The band also said they wanted to return to Hull in the future so I'm very much hoping they do! Although they were missing Connor, the remaining three band members put on an AMAZING show and I loved the whole night SO MUCH! Brad sang faultlessly throughout the whole show and I loved how he could switch between playing guitar and piano flawlessly, along with his effortless vocal riffs here and there. James' backing vocals were SO GOOD and I loved his performance on guitar! Finally, I loved how Tristan still managed to get involved with the crowd even though he was towards the back of the stage and I LOVED his energetic performance on the drums! I also loved his drum solo and the production around it was incredible! I love that The Vamps put the same incredible performance into both small and large venues and the band are all so talented! I also love that they always interact with the audience throughout the show and seeing The Vamps from front row was INCREDIBLE!
The whole night was AMAZING and I still can't believe we actually got front row! It was an unforgettable night which I loved from start to finish and CANNOT wait for their next tour, which I will definitely be getting tickets for!
Thanks for reading!
Sophie
P.S. More pictures below!
