The Vamps: ‘We can’t wait to perform in Jersey tomorrow’

• The Vamps ‘can’t wait’ to perform at Big Gig tomorrow
• The band spoke to the JEP ahead of the concert
• Spandau Ballet and The Feeling performing at Legend in the Park event today
• Both events taking place in Howard Davis Park

TOMORROW’S headliner for Sure’s Big Gig in the Park have said they ‘can’t wait’ to perform for Islanders at Howard Davis Park.

• The first Big Gig in the Park was held in 2010 and featured performances by Will Young and Beverley Knight.
• The following year, the headliners were X Factor stars Olly Murs and Alexandra Burke.
• Stars performing in 2012 included boy band The Wanted and singer Lemar.
• JLS were the headliners in 2013, supported by James Arthur and Union J.
• Last year’s Big Gig was headlined by Lawson, and saw the introduction of a Legend in the Park event the night before the Big Gig, which starred Tom Jones (below).

British boyband The Vamps, who have had top-ten hits with Wildheart, Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart) and Can We Dance, are eager to bring their set to a new crowd.

Brad Simpson, lead vocalist and guitarist for the group, said that the band will bring ‘loads of energy’ to the stage, following their UK tour last year and a number of festival appearances with support act Union J, who will also perform tomorrow.

Speaking to the JEP ahead of tomorrow’s gig, Mr Simpson said: ‘We can’t wait to perform in Jersey.

‘We haven’t been before but we expect it to be brilliant.

‘We have been gigging for a while now and it is nice to do it in a similar location but it will be nice to see the crowd and take our set to a new place.

‘If Sunday is a success, we would love to come back to Jersey with a new set after the release of album two in November.’

Mr Simpson said that the group would be performing songs from their first album and are ‘excited’ to see the reaction from their Jersey fans.

Meanwhile, Spandau Ballet and The Feeling will take to the stage later today for the sell-out Big Gig Legend in the Park event.

• British pop band The Vamps consists of Brad Simpson (lead vocals and guitar), James McVey (lead guitar and vocals), Connor Ball (bass guitar and vocals) and Tristan Evans (drums and vocals).
• James, who was managed by Prestige Management, decided he wanted to form a band and discovered Brad Simpson in 2011 through YouTube. The pair began writing songs together and met Tristan through Facebook and then Connor via a mutual friend.

• They first started attracting fans in late 2012 after uploading cover songs to YouTube, resulting in them being signed to Mercury Records in November 2012.
• The band supported McFly on their Memory Lane Tour in early 2013 and supported pop acts including the Wanted, JLS, Little Mix, Lawson and Demi Lovato at several festival-style events around the UK.
• They released their debut single, Can We Dance, in September 2013, which debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart.
• Their second single, Wild Heart, charted at number three in January 2014 and was followed by Last Night in April 2014, which reached number two.
• Debut album Meet the Vamps followed, which charted at number two in the UK Albums chart, held off the top stop by Paolo Nutini’s Caustic Love.
• Further singles have included Somebody to You (featuring Demi Lovato), which reached number four, and Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart), featuring Shawn Mendes – a re-working of the Simon and Garfunkel hit, which reached number nine.
• The band have been compared to One Direction and labeled a boy band but disagree with the stereotyping, pointing out that they formed by themselves and are not the product of a record producer, and that they play their own instruments.
• In May 2014, The Vamps made a cameo appearance in the soap opera Hollyoaks.

• Boy band Union comprises of Josh Cuthbert, JJ Hamblett, Jaymi Hensley and George Shelley.
• In 2007, Blair Dreelan of Alpha Dog Management met 14-year-old Josh Cuthbert, who was auditioning for the fourth series of The X Factor. Josh failed to get through to the next round, but Blair believed that he looked like a pop star and was impressed by his voice. In 2011, Josh met Jaymi Hensley met whilst studying performing arts at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in Westminster and decided to put a band together. Former jockey Jamie ‘JJ’ Hamblett was later added to the group by Blair and they named themselves Triple J (due to each member sharing the same initial).

• In May 2012, after eight months together, Triple J and soloist George Shelley both auditioned in London for the ninth series of The X Factor. The band were given the opportunity to progress in the competition on the condition that George joined the band and they became a four-piece, with the name Union J. The band came fourth in the series.
• Following The X Factor, the band signed a record deal with Sony Music Entertainment –before signing a new deal with Epic Records in 2014 – and they released their debut single, Carry You, in June 2013, charting at number six in the UK Singles Chart. Follow up singles included Beautiful Life (number eight),Tonight (We Live Forever) (number nine) and You Got It All (number two).
• To date they have released two albums, 2013’s Union J, which reached number six in the charts, and 2014’s You Got It All, which charted at number 28.
• In 2013 they partnered up with Pokémon for the UK release of X and Y and last year they released a set of lookalike dolls and teamed up with Panini for an official Union J sticker collection.