If you didn't leave Watford Colosseum deafened by screaming schoolgirls or having witnessed embarrassing parents dancing to What Makes You Beautiful, then you must have been in the wrong place on Sunday evening as the town was put firmly in the grip of One Direction.

These five, very handsome, testosterone-fuelled young boys have come a long way since coming third on the X Factor, releasing a hit debut single and album and embarking on an almost instantly sold-out UK tour, and all this in just one year. You can't complain they're not making the most of their multi-million pound record deal with Syco Records.

The fact that the lads chose Watford as the first gig of their tour was not lost on the assembled, excited fans. In the Colosseum auditorium, there was endless chattering and banter among the waiting girls, laying bets on who would be wearing what and what their hair might be like and whether they would be "totally fitter" in real life.

While the security guards grooved along to Hammertime, I noticed how everyone was talking to each other. Even though they were complete strangers, they only had a single topic of shared conversation - One Direction.

The atmosphere was warm and bubbly as Matt Lonsdale stirred up the crowd with his display of head banging, jumping and cool raving.

Then One Direction whipped fans into a frenzy by offering them a snowball fight using large polystyrene balls. While snowflakes fell from above, they launched into their new single One Thing, followed by some covers and then songs from their album such as title track Up All Night and I Wish. The new track was one of the stand-out moments of the night for me as well as their number one single What Makes You Beautiful, which really stole the show. The tightness of the vocals showed how the band has grown together professionally and the direction they're heading in can only lead to greater success.

Serena Baillie