THE scream-ometer went further off the scale than ever at Plymouth Pavilions on Thursday night as One Direction sent the auditorium into a frenzy with their debut performance in the city.

With over 57,000 phone and online applications for just 2,500 seats on the day the show went on sale, Plymouth Pavilions could have sold the show out many times over.

Expectations were running pretty high, then, when Harry, Niall, Liam, Zayn and Louis bounced on stage after a video intro of our teenage heroes bombing down to the beach in a pale blue VW camper van in a Cliff and the Shadows meets Beach Boys and Monkees scenario. Surfers they certainly ain't as their attempts at long boarding proved in the video clip!

There was a touch of irony too: the boys were badly shaken on Wednesday night after their tour minibus was involved in an accident after their Birmingham gig. They were reportedly treated at the scene for whiplash.

The band looked in pretty good shape at the Pavilions, though. It was very pretty to watch, with the surf breaking on three screens around them as they opened with Na Na Na, the lyrics only just discernible above the wails of appreciation from the 99 percent female crowd.

Pretty soon it was time to light the camp fire and with lanterns swaying on the screens and the lads sitting on chairs for an acoustic sing song, you could almost smell the salt air as each took turns to lead in a medley of covers that included The Zutons' Valerie via Amy, plus I Gotta Feeling from Black Eyed Peas and a rather beautiful version of Natalie Imbruglia's Torn, proving that these guys not only have strong solo voices, they harmonise pretty impressively too.

But following the opening sequence which featured the boys carefully styled into coordinated skinny chinos, blazers and T shirts, the ensuing scenes revealed exactly what I feared – that this was less an intro to a cute and promising new floppy-haired teen band and more like the unveiling of the next Jack Wills catalogue!

As the five exited for the next outfit change, we saw the lads at private school/posh uni complete with dicky bows and nerdy glasses and they returned on stage with coordinating semi-school uniform before a back drop of wood panelled walls and Carpe Noctem (instead of Diem) above the grand doorway.

Needless to say, the Autumn Varsity Party featured Up All Night – one of several great little ditties from their No 2 album of the same name – again showcasing their harmonising skills, then a self-penned track, Everything About You, showed that there certainly is promise in the song writing department.

The Winter Season featured the band holed up on screen in an alpine chalet parading the latest ski wear – don't ask them to venture on to the slopes though – and their next single One Thing, another catchy tune, featured the quintet on stage lobbing snowballs into the adoring crowd as fake snow drifted down from above.

After the inevitable set closer of their chart topping single, That's What Makes You Beautiful, the encore invited the audience to join the lads at their black tie dinner, beneath a trio of on screen sparkling chandeliers providing a pretty impressive encore.

Striking to watch, the whole thing felt like a sort of preppy fashion show, it was so carefully stylised, branded and choreographed. They guys obviously have talent but it will be interesting to see in which direction they go next.

By Clare Robinson