Digital Reporter
Lucia Edna P. de Guzman
The Beatles visited the Philippines once and never looked back.
Meanwhile, another English group The Vamps arrived in the Philippines yesterday, for their fourth visit to the country. Tonight, at 8:00 p.m., The Vamps and the New Hope Club—a pop trio signed under The Vamps’ record label: Steady Records—will be performing live at the newly opened Ayala Malls Vertis North in Quezon City.
“The Philippines has been the [third] most interactive country in the world,” said The Vamps lead guitarist James Mc Vey in a press conference yesterday at Seda Vertis North, Quezon City. “Where we are now, they’re the top of all our Facebook and Instagram statistics. It’s amazing how the people all over the world reach to our music and we thoroughly appreciate their support. We’re definitely coming back to the Philippines every year until you get sick of us.”
But why do they keep coming back, with their BritPop style, “squeaky clean image” (“I don’t think we’re that weird,” Mr. McVey said when asked about it, adding that the band members’ small town‑strong family backgrounds have helped them stay grounded), and the abundance talent that has kept the band going since 2013?
“The culture, the food, the weather which is very hot here not like in the UK,” drummer Tristan Evans listed. “Obviously the fans. Every time we have a show here, we always leave the arena saying how crazy that was.”
“Usually in an arena there are seats on the floor, and they would jump on those seats,” Mr. Evans recalled. “It’s dangerous, but with how much fun they are having when we’re on stage—that makes us want to come back all the time. We love that.”
Expect the band to perform songs from their latest album: Night & Day, which includes the hit song All Night (Mr. Evan’s favorite because it’s fun to perform), All the Same to you (Mr. Vey’s favorite), Paper Hearts (a favorite of bassist Connor Ball) and My Place (lead vocalist Bradley Will Simpson’s favorite which he started writing two years ago. “We traveled the world with that song,” Mr. Simpson said, adding that he had wrote part of it while visiting a sea park in Manila).
The band hopes to continue signing in more young talents like the New Hope Club—composed of teenagers Blake Richardson, George Smith and Rence Bibby—to the Steady Records label. “We’ve kind of grown up in the music industry,” said Mr. Simpson, the band having started when they too were still teenagers. “Over the past five years we’ve had a very good insight on the inner workings of the record label and music business. I think it’s something that we’re very interested in and we would like to push through young talent, musicians. That’s always been something that we’ve liked to do.”
“We’ve got the New Hope Club full of boys who remind us of an early Vamps in a way. They love music and they love song writing and that’s in the core of who they are as a band,” Mr. Simpson added. Incidentally, New Hope Club gained traction after covering Wake Up by the bands, which you can watch on their YouTube channel along with other covers, mash‑ups and songs from their first EP Welcome to the Club. “It’s nice to see people who are still focused in musicianship and performing live. We just want to give them this beautiful platform and hopefully give young musicians as good a platform as they can get.”
You can catch The Vamps and The New Hope Club at 8:00 p.m. tonight, at Ayala Malls Vertis North. Tickets, available on first come, first served basis, can be claimed at the concierge. You can also expect more events like these from the mall, which hopes to cater to the lifestyle of the millennial generation with its fun and fashionable offerings.
For more updates on their show and other Vertis events, you can call them on 718‑5000 loc. 6366 or follow the official Ayala Malls Vertis North Facebook and Instagram.
