I’ll confess, I am a Busted girl to my core, but I have long loved McFly in their absence. In short, I’m the ideal audience for this tour.
But even I wasn’t prepared for the sheer teenage excitement that came over me when McFly kicked off their Halloween gig at London’s O2 Arena.
The band needed no warm-up act, with the YMCA playing over the speakers doing the job plenty well enough.
Everyone was instantly dancing as McFly kicked off with Where Did All the Guitars Go?, setting the tone that this was going to be more than just vocals.
Dougie Poynter and Tom Fletcher have an effortless charisma, jumping about the stage (shirtless when it came to the bass guitarist) for the entire set.
Danny Jones took on the traditional frontman role, getting the audience hyped up to a point where, sometimes, he unfortunately came across as arrogant.
He seemed tense for the first few songs, rarely interacting with his bandmates in the same way that the others did.
However, that rarely detracted from the songs themselves, which are classic hits from a band that always delivers.
Star Girl, Room on the Third Floor, and All About You all had the arena belting along with pure joy over these nostalgic tunes.
As a little spooky treat, the band has added the rarely played song Transylvania into their set for a mashup with Lies, which had the crowd going wild.
After some belted notes by Danny in Red, the boys brought the love with The Heart Never Lies, bringing the tempo down slightly ahead of one incredible entrance.
McFly waved goodbye, the triangular screen descended, and an excited buzz fell over the room. It was time for Busted.
They opened strong with Crashed the Wedding, taking me back to years of singing it in my bedroom, in the car, at school discos, everywhere.
A wave of nostalgia washed over me as I realised the last time I saw this group live was in 2014 for the McBusted tour, which was missing Charlie Simpson.
The singer instantly put Danny to shame, switching between screamed hardcore lyrics to softer, hushed vocals with ease.
Then Busted caught me off guard as they brought out a very special guest to play most of the set with them — James Bourne’s brother Chris.
James’ absence due to ill health has been a devastating blow to fans and the band alike, but his brother filling in on this tour was the perfect solution.
The set closed with What I Go To School For, with Charlie cheekily singing that the teacher is ’53’ now, a nod to the two decades since the track hit the charts.
Where the show thrives is in the interactions between the bands, and I really wish they had shorter individual sets so we could spend more time with the supergroup.
Shout out to the epic drum battle, it’s the only time Harry Judd and Eddie Thrower (Busted’s drummer) really get to shine and boy did they take it.
Dougie and Matt’s head-to-head was a highlight of the show, with the duo throwing barbs at each other while dressed as Elphaba and Glinda, green face paint and all.
Verdict
Even with technical issues and missing band members, both Busted and McFly came out of their Halloween show champions. Charlie Simpon’s vocals (even when muted) mean they won this battle, but ultimately, there’s no war here, just a 00s nostalgia dream.
Finally, after almost two hours, the groups joined together for their biggest hits, including 5 Colours in Her Hair and Air Hostess.
It showcased why Busted and McFly work so well together; their cheeky lyrics and irresistible charm create something bigger than the sum of its parts.
It’s a shame that this is where the tech began to fumble as Charlie’s microphone was frequently off — including during Year 3000.
The crowd carried the song word perfect, but it was clear the frontman was a little frustrated by the mess-up, as McFly’s mics didn’t seem to have an issue.
Even with the technical issues and missing a member, Busted proved the superior performers, albeit only by the smallest margin.
Call it a nostalgic bias or being distracted by Dougie’s green face, but the two iconic bands gave it all they had and I couldn’t have asked for more.
Well, maybe one McBusted song…
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