The Wanted
Opening Act: Assemble the Skyline
February 8, 2012
El Rey Theatre
Los Angeles, CA
By: Nevra Azerkan
Rating:
I had heard a few songs from The Wanted before, but had not known who they were. So when their US takeover began last month it was not hard to jump on the fan bandwagon. Their entire US tour was sold out, but I was fortunate enough to see them at their Los Angeles show (Thanks, Jazmine!). The show was initially going to be at The Roxy Theatre 
(which has a 500-person capacity), but due to high demand it was moved to the El Rey Theatre. Not bad for a group that came out of nowhere with their hit single, “Glad You Came”.
Most of the audience was unaware of an opening act, so when the curtains rose and Assemble the SkyLine was on the stage I thought for sure fans would be
bummed out. However, the audience went wild, presumably because the guys weren’t bad looking and had a decent sound. Their set went by fast and soon enough none other than Perez Hilton himself was on stage to introduce The Wanted.
Max, Tom, Nathan, Jay and Siva took the stage and jumped right into their song, “Behind Bars”. The energy was intense and the crowd went nuts. 
The moment the guys stepped on stage fans were pushing forward to try to get a closer look or better yet to reach out to touch the guys. Lucky fans in the front were given kisses from The Wanted and when that happened it started feeling like a mosh pit.
Set list included (in no particular order): “Behind Bars”, “Say It On The Radio”, “Lightning”, “Rocket”, “Lose My Mind”, “Invincible”, “Gold Forever”, 
“Animal” (Neon Trees cover), “Iris” (Goo Goo Dolls cover), “Warzone”, “Heart Vacancy”, “All Time Low”, and “Glad You Came”.
The one thing I was curious to see is if they sounded as good as they do not only on their albums, but also from what I’ve seen from their television appearances. They did not disappoint. These guys are undoubtedly 
talented. They sounded phenomenal and their up-tempos and ballads alike were crowd pleasers. In fact, the entire audience sang along to every song, which seemed to shock them. The show was such a blast it went by in a flash. They ended with the fan favorite, “Glad You Came” while drenching the audience with water. Although, I’m sure the fans were gladder that The Wanted came to America. I, for one, can’t wait for them to come back to the states and when they do, you will definitely not want to be part of the few who missed out.
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