The Wanted - Nottingham Trent Arena Review

Excitement was already racing around the whole of the arena. As all the seats started to fill up, first band, Parade, took to the stage. Their top 10 hit 'Louder', appeared to be well known by the vast majority of the audience, with everybody singing along (or at least pretending to know the words!).

The second band to take to the stage was 'Lawson'. These 4 guys have had a lot of success over YouTube including having nearly 70,000 views on their cover of Lady Gaga's 'Marry the Night'. They are already building up their own fan base and had a lot of support from the crowd. In their short set they also included a cover of 'The A-Team' by Ed Sheeran. This had everyone singing along and swaying. Lawson are definitely a band to watch out for this year!

The third support band was 'Fanfair'. Taking to the stage in sparkling silver dresses, Fanfair looked ready to rock the arena. Their songs went down amazingly well with the crowd and finishing on 'The Vaccine', had everyone dancing along too.

The final band was 'Ben Montague'. These guys seemed more than appreciative to be stood there and kept telling the crowd that they looked beautiful! Bit of a strange one to support The Wanted as they were slightly more indie, however they were amazing and their music filled the arena really well. They went off with an amazing reaction from the crowd.

Now everyone knew what was next… THE WANTED. Every time a photo of them came on the screen, screams of girls charged the arena. At one point before they came on even the floor began to shake!

As the lights dipped screams once again filled the arena. This time even more high pitched! A video of The Wanted came on the screen. It was a pre recorded video of them trying to break 'The Code'. This was the basis behind the tour. And then, from out of the floor, The Wanted appeared! Taking to the stage and beginning to sing 'invincible'. You could hardly hear the band over the screams of girls, it was deafening! But none the less the boys had started and what a start it was. There was a T shaped runway going into the crowd. Spreading themselves out so that everyone in the crowd could see them, and the band looked amazed by the size of the venue. This was the first night of their first arena tour so I can only imagine how excited they must have been and this showed through their performance!

After saying hello to the crowd they went into their third single 'Lose my Mind' this had everyone screaming the lyrics back and jumping up and down. These boys know how to wow a crowd and this continued throughout. The Wanted continued to plough through song after song from both their albums.' Lightening' was the fifth song that they performed. This being undoubtedly one of their most famous songs went down like a storm! Lights beamed out over the crowd and the boys ran recklessly around the stage jumping up and down as they sang which of course got the crowd jumping up and down again.

The boys then ran off for a costume change and again on the screen it was the continuation of The Wanted breaking 'The Code'. The boys returned to the stage and began to perform 'Last to know'. Again cheers filled the arena. Moments like this prove just how successful The Wanted have been over the past 2 years.

As they perform more and more songs of their debut album 'The Wanted' and their second album 'Battleground' you can see how much talent these guys truly have. Playing their own instruments and singing songs they have written, you see that they are not just your average boy band. Before another costume change they sing 'Warzone', their latest single. This slightly slower paced song has everyone swaying and singing along. And again the boys disappear for their costume change, however what happened next I don't think anyone was expecting. From the back of the arena The Wanted appear and walk around the outside of the crowd. Everybody is running to them to try and touch their hand, with some lucky people getting a hug!

After this I thought they couldn't amaze me anymore until they started to perform a Coldplay medley. They covered 'Viva la Vida', 'Every Teardrop is a Waterfall', 'Paradise' and 'Fix You'. This was a huge surprise and with them playing their instruments, performing these songs it was an incredible moment to witness. And from here the hits kept on coming! The next song was 'Gold Forever'. The lights were gold and shinning down on the audience.

The boys then thanked everyone for coming and said that sadly it was the end which had the crowd booing, resulting in Jay booing back! They performed their first every single and number 1, 'All Time Low'. They seemed really proud of this song as it is basically what got them to where they are today and it was a great finish to show. They exited the stage, waving as they went. The screens once again had the final section of 'The Code' on. This ended with them breaking 'The Code' and saying glad you came. Which of course meant only one thing. The boys returned to the stage in yet another outfit and performed my personal favorite, 'Glad You Came'. It was definitely the best song for them to finish on and felt like their way of saying thank you to the audience.

The Wanted's website is here: http://thewantedmusic.com/

Review by Grace