The Vamps are eager to see their S'pore fans

SINGAPORE – Lots of sweat and lots of energy. That is what the guys from The Vamps – Connor Ball, 19; Tristan Evans, 22; James McVey, 21; and Brad Simpson, 20 – have promised for their show tomorrow night (Jan 26) at the Hard Rock Coliseum on Sentosa.

“Well, It’s going to be warm at the show, isn’t it?” said McVey.

The Vamps’ debut appearance here is in support of the debut album Meet The Vamps (they’re also supported by a new band, The Tide) and the guys said that they’ll not only play their familiar hits such as Can We Dance, Wild Heart and Last Night, but also include a couple of songs they’ve never played live before in their set.

The band members also said that they were pleasantly surprised to see so many fans waiting at the airport. “Yesterday when we came off the plane at the airport, there were quite a lot of fans there. That was a weird for us. I mean, it’s cool, because they’ve been supporting us right from the start online, and now we finally get to meet them,” said McVey.

“It’s crazy that in the three years since we’ve started touring, we’re in Singapore. Doing tours overseas, that’s when it really hits home. It’s fun to tour the United Kingdom, but when you come to countries you’ve never been to before, it’s quite surprising and overwhelming. You have to reflect on how far we’ve come,” he added.  

It’s not just the touring. The Vamps started a record label as well, and they signed their first act last year – The Tide, who are opening for The Vamps at the show tomorrow.

“We wanted to help them as a band and get them to do the same thing that we did from the start when we were young little boys in a band,” said Ball, whom the rest of the band say is the most “vampire-y” of them all, because of his rather sharp fangs. “Connor’s good at climbing things and hanging from things. He’s like a bat,” quipped McVey.

Why start a label now? “You can’t wait on time, you have to do it while you’re young,” said Ball. “We’re very interested in that kind of stuff and we get along with our label. We want to be like that.”

Speaking of young boys in the band, The Vamps were quick to point out that they were okay with the media comparisons to another boy band:  One Direction.

“No! It doesn’t bother us being compared to one of the biggest bands in the world. It’s a compliment if anything,” said Simpson. “If we can get half of what they achieved that’s a good thing. But we are trying to our own thing too.”  

Although the band members said they several memorably awesome gigs (Wembley, Sydney, “the first gig we played with McFly, “the first tour we did, the pop-up gig in a shopping centre in London”), there was one gig that they’re rather forget.

“We played a theme park in the UK called Alton Towers Resort and the electricity broke down halfway through the intro to the first song,” said Simpson. “And it kept breaking down every time we started the intro – three times! We haven’t played the song since!”

Hopefully, that won’t happen tomorrow. “Hopefully it’ll be a fun experience. We try to engage the crowd. They are not just seeing four boys playing on stage, but being involved in the whole thing. That’s the important thing for us – and putting on as good a show as we can give them. Hopefully the crowd will enjoy what they’ve seen and come back so that we can come back again.”

Added McVey: “I think we can sustain the ability to do what we’re doing and come back to places like Singapore, that would be great.”  

The Vamps perform with The Tide tomorrow (Jan 26), 7.30pm at The Coliseum, Hard Rock Hotel, Sentosa. Tickets from SISTIC..