Well the day finally came for the fans of One Direction. Over a year ago it was announced that the British Boy band would be doing a North American Stadium tour and an Orchard Park date (Ralph Wilson Stadium) made the list. Since that time, the band has gone through some major changes. Their longtime manager Paul Higgins left in November of 2014 and member Zayn Malik unexpectedly left earlier in the year. It was recently announced after completion of their 5th studio effort, the current members will go do solo projects starting in March of 2016 for one year. Despite the changes, it didn’t waver the anticipation of their fans wanting to see them.
Fans came from all over the world (some from as far as South America) to see this show in Western New York. The band took the stage at 8:58 pm to a round of fireworks and streamers shot off at the end of the thrust of the stage. One Direction are known to sing and only Niall Horan played guitar at various points in the show. They did have a backing band to support them as well.
All the members (Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson) had the spotlight at varies times throughout the set but it was Styles that was the focal point in my opinion. Styles addressed the crowd and fixated on a couple at one point who held up a sign stating that they got married. Chad and Amy were the ones Styles tried to get to interact with him but Chad didn’t want any part of it. Yes, the audiences was dominated by a female demographic that was between the ages of 10-15 years old. As you can see, there were some others enjoying the show too. Styles, at another point, held up a chicken wing hat (Buffalo is the home of the chicken wing) and said this was a very strange thing and asked who wanted to wear it? He then tossed it to a waving fan.
The 30,000 plus crowd seemed to be enjoying the voices from the stage and interactions as the band members did address Buffalo numerous times throughout the set. It wasn’t an over the top production and it wasn’t a musical experience to blow anyone’s mind but this show wasn’t about that. For most of the attendees, it was their first show or concert experience. As I walked around to take in the sights and sounds of the atmosphere, what I noticed most was the bonding experiences that were being made between mothers and daughters and in some instances, fathers with their daughters. Those will be lifelong memories that they will cherish forever. Those are the thoughts I’m taking away from the show!
Setlist:
Clouds
Steal My Girl
Little Black Dress
Where Do Broken Hearts Go
Midnight Memories
Kiss You
Stockholm Syndrome
Fireproof
Ready to Run
Better Than Words
Don’t Forget Where You Belong
Little Things
Night Changes
18
No Control
Drag Me Down
Diana
What Makes You Beautiful
Through the Dark
Girl Almighty
Story of My Life
Encore:
You & I
Act My Age
Little White Lies
Best Song Ever
We would like to thank Winnie Lam from Columbia Records for the credentials to review the show.
