One Direction counting down to Wolverhampton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJO3ROT-A4E

Cue thousands of screaming girls – boyband One Direction are in town. The boys, who have had an incredible 12 months since appearing on the X Factor, will be on stage at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Wednesday.

They are sure to raise the roof of the landmark venue – and if they don't, their female fans certainly will.

Tickets for the gig sold out within an hour of going on sale – that's how much demand there is for the band which features Wolverhampton's very own Liam Payne.

The cheeky chappies have had a bumper 12 months to say the least.

After coming third on the X Factor, behind Rebecca Ferguson and eventual winner Matt Cardle, they have secured two top three singles and an album that reached number two in the charts.

Not only that, they've had two books released – One Direction: Forever Young and Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction.

Not bad for a bunch of fresh-faced lads at the beginning of their music career.

And it goes to show that coming first in the X Factor is not the be-all and end-all.

Their achievements to date already put them up there with the likes of JLS and The Wanted as one of Britain's biggest boy bands.

In an interview Liam, who is 18, said: "It's strange going from being totally unknown to being on the front of magazines and winning polls and things like that.

"The best thing about it all is that we get to meet all the fans who have been amazing to us. We get recognised everywhere."

Niall Horan added: "It's hard for us to even walk down the streets at the moment. It's quite funny really when people give you a second look and realise who you are. People have always been really nice to us."

The boys added they couldn't wait to hit the road on their debut tour. Liam and Niall, and the other band members Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, are kicking off their tour in Wolverhampton.

The 21-date tour will see the band 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 up with shows in Ireland at the O2 in Dublin and the Waterfront in Belfast.

Their first headline tour will see the band performing songs from their debut album, including What Makes You Beautiful and Gotta Be You, alongside some of their favourite covers and a few surprises.

In another interview, Zayn said the band had become close spending so much time together preparing for the tour.

"We didn't know each other when we were at the show – we were complete strangers but now we feel more confident as a group," he said.

"We're all best friends, or more like brothers."

During the X Factor auditions, each of the lads had tried their luck as solo artists in the Boys category. They failed to make it through – but success beckoned when judge Nichole Scherzinger suggested they form a band, making therm eligible for the Groups category.

Now One Direction are going places, and it seems that the only way is up from here.