CityLife

The Wanted

Manchester Arena

February 17, 2012

WHEN The Wanted sang We’re Glad You Came at the end of their show in the Manchester Arena, the audience categorically agreed.

The lads’ first arena tour – The Code – has set them firmly on the road to becoming one of Britain’s most well-loved boy- bands, with Tom, Max, Siva, Nathan and Jay proving they have the voices and personalities to show their audience a good time.

In the main it was a no-frills performance, with little dancing, no backing dancers and a relatively plain stage and costumes. There wasn’t even the obligatory boy-band ballad perched on stools. But it didn’t seem to bother the thousands of screaming girls who turned up to see and hear the popular five-some (above), arguably the most attractive boy-band we’ve ever seen.

Unsurprisingly, Manchester-born Max got the best reaction of the night, especially when he declared how proud he was to be performing in “the best arena in the best city in the world”. But despite being the youngest member of the band, it was 18-year-old Nathan who stole the show with his incredible voice and quirky dancing.

The others took a little longer to warm up and seemed more concerned with pouting and looking sultry.

The show started slow, but the enthusiastic audience kept the atmosphere electric and the boys responded by giving a fantastic performance for the latter half. They even picked up an instrument each to play a selection of self-penned songs.

Max grabbed the bass, Tom and Siva played the guitar, Nathan was on piano and Jay gave everything he had to the drums.

The audience sang along with Siva’s rendition of I Want It All before the tempo was lifted for Warzone, written by Max and Nathan. It even included an impressive arrangement of pyrotechnics, throwing out some serious heat during the emotional ballad.

With a relatively small repertoire – the boys released their second album in November – the group filled a gap in the 90-minute set with a medley of four Coldplay covers, which unfortunately lacked any individuality.

But with energetic performances of all their Top 10 hits, including Lightning, All Time Low and Glad You Came, there was plenty to keep the audience on their feet with smiles on their faces.

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