HYSTERIA and tears had been expected. Emotional though the experience clearly was for the massed ranks of screaming One Direction fans, the outpourings seemed to be controlled from the stage, like a tap on an intravenous drip.

PHOTO GALLERY: One Direction fans descend on Metro Radio Arena

Even in the context of a group that attracts regular tabloid focus, the boy band’s run-up to the first of three shows at Newcastle Metro Arena had been high-profile, with the cancellation of a show last week.

Outside the venue, tension was palpable over whether Liam had fully recovered ahead one of the last opportunities Directioners would have to see the group - and their increasingly luxuriant set of manes - ahead of their hiatus.

From the outset, Liam, Harry, Louis and Niall, appeared intent on dismissing claims that their energies were waning as they neared the end of their 80-date world tour, with impassioned renditions of Here We Go Again, Let Me Kiss You and Fireproof. Dressed in boy next door who’s off down the pub outfits, their performances were both slick and studiously casual, interrupted occasionally by an earnest outbreak from Harry and Liam.

Their faultless backing band was literally on another level, on a mezzanine floor hidden behind a laser light show.

Their family-oriented stagecraft, punctuated with endless love and gratitude expressed to fans, shows One Direction clearly know their audience – girls aged six to 16 and their mothers – so it was all the more of a mystery as to why they would start their two hour-plus show at about 8.40pm, past the bedtimes of many there.