IT was enough to make you scream, extremely loudly and with hardly a stop for breath, although perhaps not if you were one of the few parents in the room.
After a few days of creating mild hysteria around Sydney, it was time yesterday for One Direction to prove they could live up to their reputation as the hottest new pop act in the world.
At Sydney's Hordern Pavilion the British-Irish boy band made its official Australian debut with two shows, at which the decibel level out on the floor was a match for the voices coming off stage.
Harry, Louis, Niall, Liam and Zayn, who in just nine months since the release of their first single What Makes You Beautiful have become a global phenomenon, got an ecstatic reaction last night from a predominantly early-teenage female crowd. "This has to be the loudest audience we've ever had," said singer Harry Styles early on, making them louder.
One Direction have the moves, more vocally than as dancers, and their songs, while formulaic, are hook-laden and well-crafted. The bulk of the material came from their debut album Up All Night, which went to No 1 in Australia on its release late last year. As well as What Makes You Beautiful the group's other successful singles Gotta Be You and One Thing also got an airing, the latter accompanied by an onstage fake snowball fight that bordered on the surreal.
The past year has seen a remarkable rise for One Direction, which got its break on the British television talent quest X Factor. All five members: Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson, had entered the competition individually but were later put together as a band.
Last night they paid tribute to their first stabs at being a boy band by playing acoustically some of the covers they first rehearsed together, such as the Black Eyed Peas' I Got A Feeling and Natalie Imbruglia's hit Torn. They later added some rock-lite bluster with Kings of Leon's Use Somebody.
Backed by a four-piece band that was never too intrusive, the five singers harmonised well, although individually only Malik hinted at being able to swap his pop chops for a deeper soul croon.
A less entertaining and overlong diversion involved reading out - and acting out - tweets from members of the audience.
One Direction's next Australian stop is in Melbourne on Monday and Brisbane on Tuesday. Aussie fans left disappointed at not being able to get tickets for the sold-out shows can cling to the knowledge that the famous five will be back next year to complete a more comprehensive tour.
But a year is a long time in the world of teenage screams.
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