Graeme Thomson's verdict: four stars

Following their teaser set at Radio One's Big Weekend in Glasgow last month, the full frenzy of 1D's globe-strafing Where We Are stadium tour landed in Edinburgh last night, heralded by the kind of mass hormonal meltdown which made comparisons to Beatlemania not altogether fanciful.

The crowd of 64,000 frenzied (and mostly female) fans was a far cry from the first time the band played the capital to 800 people. 

Picture gallery from Murrayfield

They did not disappoint, with a 23-song greatest hits set which kicked off in a shower of smoke and fireworks with the stompy Midnight Memories and the 80s soft-rock homage Little Black Dress.

Three albums into their career, One Direction have made the transition from TV boy band to more substantial pop-rockers better than most. The ramps, fireworks, streamers and huge screens were fun, but the music stood its ground.

Rock Me and I Lied were pleasingly meaty, Happily was tender without being soppy - and so what if Harry Styles was incapacitated by a sore throat? A massed chorus sang every line for him.

The night was clear and warm, the sound was excellent, and the band worked hard to reach every corner of the stadium, frequently promenading along the B-stage which arrowed into the crowd and which rose, spectacularly, 20 foot into the air on One Thing and Diana.

Last week's tepid drugs scandal - did Zayn Malik inhale? - wasn't alluded to, though his cardinal sin of confusing Murrayfield with Manchester did momentarily threaten the love-in.

It took a chorus of 500 Miles to gain the crowd's full forgiveness, while a home run of What Makes You Beautiful, You and I, Story of my Life and Best Song Ever sent them into paroxysms of joy.

"You were absolutely electric," said Liam Payne. They weren't so bad themselves.