by BRIANNA SICILIANO Social Media Coordinator
The world’s biggest boyband, One Direction, has been touring all around the world in 2014. They have toured in Latin America, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Europe, and the band’s tour – called the ‘Where We Are’ stadium tour – was finally brought to North America starting in early August.
Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik sold out all of their tour dates within minutes. Do you understand how impressive that is? Some of the stadiums that the band performed in could hold up to 80,000 people! Selling out stadiums like the Metlife Stadium for two nights in a row is not something that every artist is able to do.
When the boyband was in our area, they performed for two nights at Metlife Stadium (August 4 and August 5) and two nights at the Lincoln Financial Field (August 13 and August 14). Fans in our area had been waiting for over a year to see the band, and soon enough, the nights of the concerts finally came.
5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS), an Australian punk-rock band made up of Ashton Irwin, Calum Hood, Michael Clifford, and Luke Hemmings, were the opening act for One Direction’s tour this year and last. After performing in front of thousands of 1D fans last year and becoming more popular, 5 Seconds of Summer’s fan base began to grow rapidly. Many One Direction fans are fans of 5SOS, too, so putting the two bands together for a worldwide tour could not have been any more exciting and successful.
To get fans pumped for the night’s concert, 5 Seconds of Summer jammed out to about 10 songs, including “18,” “Don’t Stop,” “Amnesia,” “Good Girls,” “Beside You,” “Teenage Dream,” “Heartbreak Girl,” “Heartache on the Big Screen,” “What I Like About You,” and “She Looks So Perfect.”
One Direction came on stage about 40 minutes after 5 Seconds of Summer left, and as Styles, Tomlinson, Horan, Malik, and Payne walked onto the stage, a loud roar of screams built up. The band opened up their concerts with their hit song “Midnight Memories,” and followed with other songs like “Little Black Dress” and “Kiss You” before taking a break to talk to the crowd.
Every song that the band performed was absolutely incredible. The five members of 1D found ways to connect with their fans in every song.
When the band sang “Little Things,” for example, Horan (the only Irish member of One Direction) looked straight into the camera that connected to the big screens. As he sang the lines, “You [will] never love yourself half as much as I love you, and you [will] never treat yourself right, Darling, but I want you to. If I let you know I [am] here for you, maybe you [will] love yourself like I love you,” he stared into the eyes of tens of thousands of fans who were not able to make physical eye contact with him that night. He made every fan feel loved and special, and that connection is not a connection that many other artists try to make.
“I really enjoyed going to the concert with my cousins and sister. We were able to see the best five guys in the world within a couple of feet from us. The band did an incredible job singing all of their songs, but I was the most excited when they performed my all-time favorite song, ‘Little Things.’ I would not have wanted to spend that night any other way,” said senior Darlynn Darko.
As the concert progressed, One Direction did their best to make sure all of their fans were able to see the artists they came to see. While singing their 16th song of the night, entitled “Alive,” the band made their way to the end of their catwalk and stood on a smaller stage. Before fans knew it, Styles, Horan, Tomlinson, Payne, and Malik’s catwalk stage was rising higher and higher.
“My favorite part of the concert was when One Direction went on the square stage that rose in the air. While they sang ‘Alive,’ ‘One Thing,’ and ‘Diana,’ they were able to see fans who were seated in the bleachers. One Direction was able to connect with all of their fans, even the fans that were not seated on the floor. I thought that was a really great decision on their part,” said freshman Chelsea Franchette.
Although the band did take the time to talk to the crowd eight times throughout the night, their “Where We Are” tour seemed a lot less personal than their “Up All Night” and “Take Me Home” tours.
In their first two tours, One Direction took the time to answer three fan questions per night. After answering fans, Malik, Payne, Horan, Styles, and Tomlinson would say the fan’s twitter usernames and took the time to try to point the fans out from the crowd. Answering these questions added a unique element to One Direction’s concerts, and that personal element was missing during this tour.
At every “Where We Are” concert, One Direction sang 23 of their songs. Every song was performed in unique and genius ways. Every fan in the crowd was thanked for their love and support. Every person in the stadium could feel the love.
One Direction’s “Where We Are” tour is not over yet; the band still has a few more stadiums to perform in before the tour officially ends. We all need to cross our fingers and hope that One Direction make their way back to our area next year for their “On The Road Again” tour.
Will you be attending their tour next year? What are you most looking forward to? Did you see One Direction this summer? What did you think of the show? Share your comments below!