One Direction tour starts at Wolverhampton Civic Hall

One Direction, featuring Black Country heartthrob Liam Payne, are set to kick off their debut headline tour at Wolverhampton Civic Hall . . . and then play the NIA in Birmingham two weeks later.

They will play the Civic on Wednesday, December 21, 2011. Tickets, limited to four per person and priced £27.50 and £19.50 plus booking fees, go on sale at 10am this Saturday, October 1, 2011.

The band then returns to the Midlands to play the NIA in Birmingham, on Wednesday January 4, 2012.

One Direction's debut single, What Makes You Beautiful, shot to No. 1 on iTunes within 15 minutes of being released and achieved the biggest week one sales of 2011, selling 153,965 copies.

The 21-date tour will see One Direction making stops at various key venues around the country, including London's HMV Apollo, Manchester's O2 Apollo, Liverpool's Echo Arena and Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena. The tour wraps with shows in Ireland at the O2 in Dublin and the Waterfront in Belfast.

The boys are no strangers to performing to huge crowds after wowing fans on The X Factor Live Tour earlier this year. Their first headline tour will see the band performing songs from their debut album, released this November, alongside some of their favorite covers and a few surprises.

Official Website: www.onedirectionmusic.com