by Marita Kelly.
Hot off the trails of filming in the U.S of A, ‘The Wanted’ arrived onto Cork soil to a sea of screaming eager girlies. The band spent the day in The Clarion Hotel preparing and meeting and greeting lucky pass holders. And wow!!! they have enthusiastic raring-to-go fans.
I was in the hotel having tea (rock n’ roll, eh?) with the fabulous Cathy Jordon of ‘Dervish’, whilst the flood gates of keen cailini, hoping to get a glimpse of the dishy dudes, were opened. Little ole’ me was happily trying to eat dinner, while my mother informed me that it reminded her of the Beatle Mania days; this was before she fell asleep in the lobby, but that’s another days story!
The hullabaloo transferred over to the Marquee. New kids on the block, Taken, opened the gig in a well rehearsed set. These 4 young lads reminded me of a young ‘A1’ or a shrunken ‘One Direction’ -minus one! It was apparent how proud they were to be singing their songs, songs they had written that meant something to them.
‘Taken’ paved the way for ‘The Wanted’ laddos, who pumped out heartening tunes, Warzone, Gold Forever, I Found You, and a set of tunes from ‘The Killers’. There is no way anyone could have been at that gig and not jumped to each beat! As impossible as having bubble wrap and not bursting it!
But, gee, they must have been missing the American sunshine as Max left his big cosy jacket on all night and Jay wore a cool hat with ears. In fact, I’d have happily swapped my trilby for his bunny hat! Looked much toastier!
However, I felt there was an air of graciousness about them with their ‘come-and-get-me-girls’ eyes, and onstage chats amongst themselves; possibly a slight reflection of the antic’s on their hit show Chasing the Sun. Maybe if I wasn’t the ripe old age of 24 and was 10 years younger, I may have happily drooled at the boybandish/Rolling Stones wannabe ways, serenading me live on stage. Raaargh! Hhhmm, maybe they shouldn’t have come through the ‘Nothing to Declare’ section at Cork Airport and left their arrogance at customs. Eeeeekk, I could be lynched for such a statement. I like their music, just not their onstage antic’s.
It was Father’s Day and I was missing my Dada; so to hear the boys tell Siva Kaneswaran how proud they were of him, and how proud his dad would have been of him, was refreshing and humanised their stardom. For me, this bridged the gap between the boyish lads self-indulgent Chasing the Sunand anyone in the crowd, including me, who was feeling at an All Time Low.
The Wanted have an undeniable passion for performing and living the dream. And Lightening is a cracker of a tune. I love it! Can’t help but bop to it and get lost in the music. At the end of the show, it lifted the roof off the Marquee. Is it any surprise they hit the top spot on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart?
