Sherwood Pines Forest Live offers boy band bonanza with The Vamps over Glastonbury weekend

As Glastonbury welcomed Kanye West, Burt Bacharach and George Ezra on Saturday night, a little closer to home here at Sherwood Pines, we were delivered a boy band bonanza.
The Vamps sherwood pinesThe Vamps sherwood pines
The Vamps sherwood pines

As part of the Forest Live tour, the Kings Clipstone venue played host to headliners The Vamps, supported by X Factor finalists, Union J, US group Tide and Louis Walsh’s Irish group, Hometown.

Now to be honest, being over 40, I have to admit I didn’t know any of these groups well. In fact I had only heard of them through my 16 year-old niece who is a Vamps fan and saw them recently on tour in Sheffield.

But living on the doorstep it seemed wrong to miss an opportunity to enjoy the summer sun and live music despite the artists not being my usual cup of tea. So I took along my nine-year-old daughter as a guest to act as suitable camouflage for my attendance.

I do think the organisers have got it wrong this year though with the weekend’s line-up. It is very rare for the venue not to be sold out well in advance but I understand that discounted tickets were available for The Vamps show online which supports my theory.

The venue is perfect in many ways but with no public transport links, it means the only way is by car and considering the average audience age, it meant the fans were reliant on parents to get them to the site. And considering the ticket price was £35 each it makes an expensive occasion for many.

Despite this, many families enjoyed the event, with rows of fathers carrying daughters and sons upon their shoulders as they bopped to the teenage tunes.

Hometown were well received by the crowd, followed by US import Tide who took to the stage with LA accents resonating around the forest. Despite their X Factor success, Union J was disappointing. Singing along to backing tracks, it was a bit karaoke although they definitely looked the part with muscle tops exposing bulging biceps.

But it was The Vamps that most were here for and the young rockers did their stuff, singing to the crowd of youngsters who waved their banners in appreciation whilst standing on cool boxes to elevate themselves above the heads of others.

My daughter along with many others had a great night but come on Forest Live, like The Who singing at Glastonbury- The Kids are Alright - let’s bring it back for the grown-ups.

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