WHICH DIRECTION?
THE FUTURE LOOKS CLOUDY FOR BRITISH SUPERSTARS ONE DIRECTION
If the arc of the boy band is our guide, One Direction is inching closer to its expiration date. At least, its first one, before the big reunion.
Whether it’s The Jackson 5 or ’N Sync, even the most successful boy bands thrive for about a half-decade while the group is still fresh, the members all get along and the core fans are in their young teen years. And then things, for various reasons, start to fall apart.
We’re seeing those signs in One Direction, which plays its second Pittsburgh show Sunday at Heinz Field. In March, one of the group’s more popular members, Zayn Malik, split, saying he wanted to live as a “normal 22-year-old.”
Soon after, Simon Cowell, who mentored the group and signed it to his Syco Records after the members appeared on “The X Factor” in Britain, hinted that a hiatus was imminent.
“In terms of the band, they’ve got enough hits now they can take some time off and do some other stuff they want to do,” he told British tabloid The Sun. “Then I hope they’ll have a little bit of time apart and want to get back together again. It’s a fun job, but it’s absolutely their decision.”
That “other stuff,” presumably, would include solo albums, particularly from the group’s main heartthrob, Harry Styles, and Liam Payne. Louis Tomlinson will have his hands full, becoming a father with a former girlfriend.
For now, One Direction is on the same page. A rep for the band quickly denied that One Direction planned to take a yearlong break, saying the group was “excited about their brand new fifth album” that’s in the works and the tour that would follow.
Mr. Styles told Ryan Seacrest, “We have the album and the tour that we’re working on right now. I think when you have so many goals that you feel like you have yet to achieve, it’s hard to kind of see past those. It’s important to kind of focus on what’s going on and don’t kind of lose track. So we’re all working hard towards the same thing right now, and I don’t think we’re thinking much past that. We’re just having a lot of fun and we’re working hard and we’re having a good time.”
Thus far, all four of the One Direction albums have debuted at No. 1 in the U.S. (the first time that’s happened for any band), but last year’s “Four” was down a bit, failing to top the 500K mark like the previous two, “Up all Night” and “Midnight Memories.” Neither of the singles, “Steal My Girl” and “Night Changes,” hit the Top 10 in this country as they did in the UK.
While the Consol Energy Center show in 2013 sold out in a heartbeat, the stadium has been harder to fill, and won’t get there without a little help from Groupon. That seems to be happening in most venues.
All that said, OneD fans are almost guaranteed to have fun Sunday and go home happy. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune critic raved about the show, saying, “Five years into their career, and probably good for one more album and that’s it, it seems 1D wants to go out on top.”
Do keep an eye on the body language. The Vancouver Sun reviewer said, “They felt more like four separate entities than a group. There was little cohesion between them, each guy in his own little bubble even though they were all standing a few feet apart. It was difficult to feel a true sense of fun or camaraderie.”
She also said the show was “enjoyable enough.” That might be all that matters.