The Wanted

By Sarah Chambers

Less than a year ago the name The Wanted would have meant nothing to you, but now it is a household name among teenage girls and their families.

The boys, 17-year-old Nathan Sykes, 20-year-old Jay McGuiness and 22 year olds Siva Kaneswaran, Max George and Tom Parker have now embarked on their first headline tour – just eight months after their debut single ‘All Time Low’ topped the charts.

Since then they have had two further top 5 singles, a platinum selling album and more recently another number 2 with the official Comic Relief single ‘Gold Forever’.

The Wanted know how to put on a show.

The ‘Behind Bars’ tour began in Manchester on 28th March to a sell out crowd and what a way to begin on the tour circuit.

The adoring fans were screaming long before their heroes took to the stage and the noise stepped up a level when a video popped up showing a mock news package showing the boys on the run and ‘Wanted’.

The 5-piece could have just stood on stage for the whole show and the crowd of mainly screaming teenage girls would have lapped it up, but instead they put on an amazing show.

From the upbeat madness of the opening to a slower acoustic set, which showed they are not a ‘typical boy band’ and can actually sing and play instruments.

The screams were soon back when they appeared in the middle of the crowd in suits. Hysteria broke out among the ones lucky enough to be at the end of a row and able to touch their idols.

It is mandatory for a boyband to have some form of dance routine within the set, something which The Wanted did, but they admit themselves that they can’t dance and it was proven at this point why the whole show wasn’t full of dance choreography.

The best reception of the night was to their debut single ‘All Time Low’ in the encore. Ear piercing screeches greeted the boys back on stage as the crowd shouted along with their hit.

Once getting their hearing back, fans will be pleased to know that an arena tour is planned for the end of the year but they will have to do something spectacular to beat this first tour.