My name is Lizzie and I am a Busted fan.
Not just a fan, I’m a fan fan. Like other similarly inflicted late teens, I have all their albums (and by that I mean all two and the live CD and DVD). I know all the words…and the harmonies…and use different voices for Matt, Charlie and James. The James singing voice is BRILLIANT, isn’t it!
I saw them live in 2004 and I cried when they broke up in 2005…
Don’t lie, you cried when they broke up too, didn’t you?
I have met very few people in my nearly 20 years on this Earth who didn’t like Busted. They were the spark that started my, and probably many other teens’ love for music in later life and I am not ashamed to admit that. When they broke up, I had to latch on to something else and McFly were there in all their bad haired, bright t-shirted glory. I love them rather a lot too.
So understandably when the news of McBusted came out in 2013 I immediately shelled out some of my student loan on a precious ticket…I didn’t eat that week but I don’t mind because this Tuesday just gone (6th May), I went to Cardiff and experienced something indescribable.
It would always be a tough task for any support act at such an event, but the few bands supporting McBusted did surprisingly well with a restless audience who cared about nothing but the headline act. I have no idea who the first band we saw were – the frontman hadn’t quite grown into his role yet and perhaps wasn’t used to addressing such a large crowd, but as a result nobody caught the name…if anyone can work out what he was saying, let me know! But they were good, catchy, energetic and a good warm-up for the brilliance to follow.
The next support though…I tell you what, everyone go and look up EofE. Right now. They took to the stage with a blistering mash-up of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ which doesn’t sound like it should work but it did! Utterly brilliant, a slap in the face, as a collective, our ears pricked up. We gave them our attention and although they never topped that opening song, the rest of their short set was on par with that incredible opener. They were sharp musically, energetic and had some pretty smooth moves, including an Avenged Sevenfold style Synyster Gates/Zacky Vengeance side by side by side rock out. It should also be noted that this singer had a phenomenal voice; clear, sharp, and my god what a range! If these guys don’t make it I’ll be very surprised – watch out for them.
The next band however…meh. I wasn’t feeling too hopeful when I saw the name on their drum kit – 3 Dudes. Right. And they lived up to my expectations completely. To give them their dues, they were good musically for their age (which I’m estimating is about 12) and were bursting with confidence that would make Jared Leto proud…but they’re those kids. If they were in your class at school, they would be the kid that you’d want to hit in the face every day. If you worked in an office with them, they’d be the guy that comes in on a skateboard and doesn’t do any work because he’s chatting up all the girls while wearing chinos. They weren’t my cup of tea. Moving on!
The main event kept us waiting until 9pm but I don’t even care because what happened was truly incredible.
When the lights went out for the final time, the room was buzzing with excitement. Everybody was aware of the fact that we were about to witness something very special indeed. When the curtain dropped, the elaborate stage set up was revealed and we were shown a short Back To The Future style film which ended with an actual time machine/car being added to the stage! Such fun!
How familiar you are with the opening of ‘Air Hostess’? Do you always sing along with the ‘Let’s go! Yeaaaaaaahhh! Alrightttttt!’? Well the whole of the Motorpoint Arena did when the band exploded onto the stage. The place was jumping, and looking in front of me, I couldn’t see a single person standing still. It was such a magical moment; I never thought this would happen and I found it surprisingly emotional…I hope that wasn’t just me. I was such a great moment that I don’t even care that they’ve stolen the famous Don Broco ‘walk’.
For me, the evening was made up of 3 components: brilliant songs (some of the classics as well as one or two surprises), brilliant on stage banter and brilliant audience interaction (which included impromptu renditions of both ‘Barbie Girl’ and ‘My Heart Will Go On’…I’m not even joking).
One of the musical highlights was Busted’s ‘Sleeping With The Light On’, which really emphasised the benefits of having so many talented musicians on the stage which was perhaps one of my initial concerns for the super group. The harmonies produced during this song, and certainly in the whole show, were dazzling. The song started with James Bourne in a single spotlight and an acoustic guitar which then lead into a group performance. Together they rendered the song more powerful than it could ever have been on the album through the soaring harmonies and audience reaction – it seems as though this is a bit of a fan favourite…though really, every song played was a fan favourite as everything was both well performed and elevated to new heights and as a result, incredibly well received by us. I was unsure how they’d construct the set list given the amount of songs to consider and the fact that most people were drawn there by Busted. However they came up with a set that could please the both the Busted and McFly fans. Songs like ‘Star Girl’ and ‘Crashed The Wedding’ seem to have been made to have been performed together.
To be honest, the whole evening was built on the positive reaction from the crowd during the songs and it was easy to tell that the band were feeding off this energy too: the more excitable we became, the more the joking and banter continued and the more they appeared to enjoy it too. So many penis jokes!
But it did genuinely seem as though this was something special: I was looking at Matt during one of the many sing alongs and he looked utterly bewildered and elated at the same time – like us, I don’t he ever thought this could happen. It was utterly brilliant to see these long-forgotten Busted classics given a new life in such a fantastic celebration with so many fans around to see it. They even played ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’ for crying out loud! And they had a t-shirt gun!
Theatrical and brilliant, a night full of memories and not to be missed. If you were ever a Busted fan, you’d be stupid to miss this, even if you’re too cool to like McFly.
Now playing: Busted – You Said No
Lizzie's Accidents and Misadventures 