Busted and McFly have skirted around the same stages for decades. It’s no wonder, considering they came up in the British pop-punk music scene at the same time, with similar music and indeed similar styles. While there have been allusions to feuds throughout the years, the bands are now fast friends – but that hasn’t stopped them from putting on their biggest and most aggressive tour yet: the Busted vs McFly tour.
And the first night of the show at London’s O2 Arena was something to behold. This onslaught of entertainment was brought to life in a far different way than any of their gigs before. Instead of support acts and changeover times, the music began with McFly belting out their hits before Busted did the same. Then, the surprises began.
First up though: McFly; And these are masters at work. At this point, the rockers have likely spent more time on the stage than off it and it shows.
The band, made up of Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter, Tom Fletcher and Harry Judd, delivered 60 minutes of high-octane musicianship, breaking down every tentpole moment of their career in the progress. Star Girl, Obviously, Room on the 3rd Floor, All About You… you name it, they played it.
There was no fault with any of it, either – well, nothing to do with them, anyway. Their microphones and guitars continued to play up throughout the entire set (and Busted’s, as well) but that’s more of a technical, behind the scenes issue than it is for the band themselves.
McFly demonstrated why they’re the best in the business at what they do. And it was always going to be a tough act to follow.
But Busted followed it well. The instant McFly came off stage, Busted replaced them along with lights, sounds and various graphics showing off just how the Bad Boys of British Rock roll. And they came out swinging.
Busted may have been a man down (as James Bourne bowed out of the entire tour due to health reasons), but they were bigger and better than ever. With some of their heaviest guitar-led tracks at the forefront of their solo setlist, the rockers proved that, even if they were on the back foot, they had something to prove, and they could be louder, more concise, and more fun than ever.
Through it all, Charlie Simpson was perfect as always, showing off his unique style of vocalisation through such massive hits as Sleeping with the Light On and Thunderbirds Are Go. Matt Willis continued to be the center of attention, though. Fat bass strings in one hand and the O2’s 20,000 people in the other, his tight vest almost burst with the sheer style of the man.
Busted’s set concluded with the reintroduction of McFly, kicking off the “versus” portion of the evening. Unfortunately, this is where things started to unwravel.
Dougie and Matt crossed words and bass guitars across the arena – albeit breifly. And Harry laid down a drum solo at the same time as Busted’s savant live drummer, Eddie Thrower. But, other than that… where was the drama? The stakes? Myself and other fans were under the impression the bands would be throwing down the gauntlet, deciding which team had the best songs, best stage presence, best legacy. Instead, the final portion of the set included two songs per band, played by everyone, before curtains were drawn.
I get that it might be ego-suicide to announce a “better” band each night of the tour, but with all the marketing claiming “every saga has an ending” one would think there would be an actual… ending. Instead, we received some incredible collective performances of What Happened to Your Band, Shine a Light and Year 3000 before an exit.
Next time, I hope Busted and McFly put on a bit more of a pantomime: who will win tonight? You decide!
Otherwise, just call the tour McBusted.