McBusted Tour 2014

Today marks the end of the 2014 McBusted arena tour. I was lucky enough to experience not one but four tour dates, three of which I was in the front standing zone dubbed the OMFG zone. I have been a fan of McFly, James Bourne and Matt Willis for as long as I can remember so you can expect this review to be slightly bias.

I saw support acts Young Brando, E of E, The 3 Dudes and Hollywood Ending over the various dates I attended. The only one of the bands that impressed me was Hollywood Ending, an up and coming band from America, whose set featured catchy pop hits not too far away from the McBusted sound. Not so surprising when you discover one of the members is in fact James Bourne's younger brother. 

I was excited for the McBusted tour from the second it was announced. I have heard skeptical opinions about the super group collaboration, McFly haven't been able to sell out an arena tour for a number of years, Busted split up 10 years ago and this new venture didn't feature Busted member Charlie Simpson, could both bands really pull off this tour? The simple answer is yes. 

The concert begins with a flashback to January 14th 2005, a date that is engraved in any Busted fans mind. The press conference where Busted announce that they are to split is shown. Busted members James Bourne and Matt Willis then have to undertake a mission to go back to the future in order to perform with McFly. They appear on stage in a real life Delorean car before McFly literally pop up onto the stage. The introduction was very well thought through with the Back To The Future film references for McFly and the press conference for Busted and was a great way to introduce both bands onto the stage.

Considering they had only debuted McBusted at McFly's Royal Albert Hall concerts a few months earlier the whole band were playing tight together. It was like they always have been one band and not two.  The tour is just one hit after another, from the first chords to Air Hostess to the last strum of Year 3000, fans were singing along to ever word. You'd be surprised at how many hits the bands have had between them and the tour proved that collectively they're musical force to be reckoned with. The biggest surprise for me was that all 6 members of McBusted had the biggest smiles on their faces throughout the concerts. It was refreshing to see them all genuinely seeming to be having the time of their lives whilst on stage. Something which was never seen with Busted. For Busted members James and Matt the tour is the first time since Busted that either have performed to a sell out arena but for not one second would you think that it has been ten years. Both still ooze stage presence, perhaps even more so than when they were in Busted. 

It soon becomes apparent that the big selling point of the McBusted tour is Busted. The set list is jam packed full of Busted songs with a few of McFly's biggest hits squeezed in for good measure. Is this necessarily a bad thing? I don't think so. When they're performing the songs it genuinely feels like McBusted are performing them and not McFly singing Busted songs and visa versa. 

I feel as though all the band members have realised that this tour is more likely than not going to be a one off so have pulled out all the stops for the tour. From the Delorean entrance to the flying UFO bstage, the whole tour is just a whole new level to anything that McFly and Busted have ever done apart.

If you went to see the tour because you wanted a Busted reunion tour or you're a McFly fan or like me have supported them all over the years, the tour was definitely a success. Whether McBusted continue or the band members go back to life prior to McBusted, I'm very happy that they did the tour. I don't think anyone will look back at it and see that it hasn't been an accomplishment. Quite honestly it is one of the best live shows that I have seen in a long time and I'm so glad to have been in the crowd to witness it.