The evening begins with Soap, a pop-punk four piece from London. Formerly known as The Tyne, they have found success in supporting the likes of Busted and Noahfinnce. Lead singer Ryan Lofthouse clambers around the stage with his microphone as he riles up the audience.

With charming charisma, they quickly win over the crowd as they perform ‘Bad Mood’ and ‘Get Out of My House’, which comes complete with its own choreography from the band. They also gallop through their viral TikTok cover of ABBA’s ‘SOS’ to general delight.

Next up is Talia Mar, who captivates the crowd with her soulful vocals and relatable lyrics. Her mix of heartfelt ballads and upbeat tracks showcase her range as an artist and leaves a lasting impression.

With catchy dance songs such as ‘Bored’ and contagious Sigala collaboration ‘Stay the Night’, Mar keeps up the high energy as she also covers Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ and TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’.

Henry Moodie is a last minute surprise addition to tonight’s lineup as he performs a 15-minute acoustic set opening for his good friends. With a few originals like ‘drunk text’ and ‘right person/wrong time’, Moodie serenades the crowd with his buttery vocals and gets the crowd warmed up again with a cover of One Direction’s ‘Night Changes’.

Mentioning that he opened for The Vamps at the Apollo back in 2022 and how full circle being back is to him, he leaves the stage so the crowd can get ready for the evening’s climax.

The Apollo erupts with cheers when The Vamps finally take to the stage. Opening with ‘Wild Heart’ the band immediately draws the crowd into their world of snappy pop. The chemistry between band members – Brad, James, Connor, and Tristan – is evident as they play off each other and show that over ten years of performing together has formed an obvious synergy between them.

The setlist is a nostalgic journey in celebration of it being a decade since the release of their first album, ‘Meet The Vamps’. They play the smash hits from the album, such as ‘Somebody to You’ and ‘Oh Cecilia’, along with deeper cuts ‘Girls on TV’ and ‘Golden.’

Calling for a conga line during ‘Oh Cecilia’, lead singer Bradley Simpson maintains an addictive energy all night as he climbs around the stage like Spiderman and even takes a trip to the front barrier during ‘Can We Dance’. It’s apparent that despite performing these songs for ten years straight, the lads are nowhere near tired of playing them to their fans and feed off of the nostalgia it generates. Unlike a lot of artists who either retire or hate revisiting their early hits, The Vamps take pride in their success and bash through their oldies with a youthful vigour.

Requests for everyone to take a shoe off and wave it in the air, ends up with a fan throwing a shoe onto the stage and hitting a security guard in the process. After a stern ‘no more throwing shoes, please’ ticking off, the band wrap up the acoustic part of the set, leaving drummer Tristan Evans with the stage to himself as he launches into a drum solo to ‘Chemical’. With an edgier look than the rest of the band and moments of metalhead roaring, Evans may be hinting at a future genre change which he’ll fit into like a glove.

The Vamps show no hints of tiring at all during the five-song encore. Going into ‘Another World’ with a smoke-filled stage and then into fan favourite ‘LoveStruck.’ Bassist Connor Ball takes to standing on a piano during ‘Married in Vegas’ as the night draws to an energetic conclusion.

The penultimate track being the emotional ‘Risk it All’, which sports purple lighting in honour of fan Elise who tragically passed away in a car crash last summer on the way to see her favourite band perform.

Ending with ‘Somebody To You’, Simpson asks the throng to put their phones away and get up on their friends’ shoulders, concluding the evening with everyone dancing, having fun and forgetting who they are and all their problems just for a few sacred moments.

The Vamps show they are as strong and loved as ever.