British band The Vamps is celebrating the 10th-year milestone with a Greatest Hits tour that brings the four-member group to six cities in Asia, including Manila.
The concert, presented by Live Nation Philippines, will take place on Feb. 17, 8 p.m., at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.
Given that the forthcoming visit will be their fifth time here, Manila is perhaps one of the places that have seen The Vamps — made up of Brad Simpson, Connor Ball, Tristan Evans and James McVey — transform from a “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed boy band with instruments” to a “full-fledged pop band” crafting arena-ready hits.
Their journey started with members finding each other on YouTube and other social media as teenagers and then initially uploading cover songs also on YouTube. They have since chalked up the numbers with a platinum-selling debut album, Meet The Vamps, which reached No. 2 in the UK charts; a total four albums, including the chart-topping Night & Day; eight Top 40 hits and five Top 10s; and world tours with the distinction of being the first band to headline London’s 02 Arena five years in a row.
When the pandemic struck, they were also in the midst of making the latest album Cherry Blossom. The lockdowns led to The Vamps having enough time and space to “meticulously plan what they wanted the album to be.” The album has been described as their “most personal and fully-formed work” to date.
Now, as The Vamps returns to Manila as a more grownup and evolved band, they said they just want their fans to be happy. They promised to pack the concert with heavy hitters and fan favourites.
Tristan said during a recent virtual roundtable with The STAR: “This specific tour, it was quite important to tick off what people like listening to… The setlist in Manila might be quite different from the UK because we’re checking what people there are listening to or what they want to listen to because there’s nothing more frustrating than travelling and spending all that money to watch a band that doesn’t play your favorite songs.”
On what they’re most excited about hitting the road again, Connor said, “We just finished our UK tour, so we’ve kinda rehearsed a lot for the world tour through the UK tour. So, we’re excited to travel again and play shows in places like the Philippines. We’re also going to Australia and Japan (etc.). So, getting to experience all that again, and it’s been like six years since the last time… that’s really exciting for us. Since then, I’ve gotten more adventurous in terms of food. So, I’m excited to try out food out there.”
According to the band, they keep coming back to Manila because of the fans.
Tristan said, “Everytime we come back to Manila, it’s crazy. The fans are so amazing everytime we go there. Everyone shows up and sometimes it’s overwhelming, so incredible, we love it. So, that’s one of the reasons (we keep coming back) — just the support.”
It was also in Manila where they experienced their “craziest” fan encounter. Tristan recalled, “I remember in Manila actually, this was quite scary but it was OK. There was so much hysteria behind the barrier, the metal barrier, like a full barrier, so many people pushing it that the whole barrier snapped and fell over.
“That was a really horrible thing to watch but thankfully, everyone was OK and we made sure everyone was treated. But that was a weird thing to see… that was pretty mental and that was in the Philippines for the Mall of Asia Arena show.”
Besides the fans, they also offered other reasons why they find the country worth visiting again. “I mean, there’s so many reasons we keep coming back — the food, the culture, the sun, the people, the vibes. We can’t wait to come back,” Tristan said. “Corona kicked off around the time we were aiming to come back last time. Now is the perfect opportunity to bring the 10 years or Greatest Hits tour to the Philippines.”
The STAR asked the band members how they would sum up their decade-long music career.
“So much fun, I think. It’s been crazy obviously, we’re extremely grateful for the opportunity that we have had and the chance to travel the world and play music, and get influenced and influence people. It’s almost overwhelming what’s happened with The Vamps,” Tristan said.
Connor added, “Yeah, it’s been an amazing 10 years. When we were kids, we could have been like, ‘There’s no way that’s gonna be our lives.’ So, we’re really grateful. The fact that we still get to do tours, it’s just insane. For all of us kids growing up to be musicians, it’s the thing that we like to do, so yeah, we’re just super grateful.”
Worth-noting also how they’ve remained close through the years, on and off stage.
“It’s so cool to think that we’re still super good friends, best friends and we still wanna do it. So many bands hate each other and it’s so rare that bands still get on. I think that, for us, you know, that we’ve stayed really tight as a unit, it’s just one of the highlights,” said Tristan.
When asked for their secret to staying tight as a unit, Tristan believes it’s because they treat each other like family.
“I think we generally love each other as brothers and literally as a family. I think we all know our place as well, you know what I mean? There’s so many bands that are battling to be the lead singer but that’s not the case for us. We all know our lanes and we all know our positives and negatives. That might tell why,” he said.
“Although realistically, I don’t know how it’s been all so magical. You know, the odds are against us being in the band and in each other’s pockets every day for 10 years that you’d just think that we hate each other. But nah, we’ve only grown stronger and we are much tighter now than we were five years ago. It’s just weird.
“All the answers I don’t know. But respect for each other, I think, is one of the main things. Then, being there for each other and helping each other out. And not put in the chase of what we want to do in the forefront. Put in people’s emotions and feelings before anything else and help, that’s important for us.”
(For details on the concert, check out info@livenation.ph/www.livenation.ph.)