Saturday 4th June 2016 at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham was the date my childhood dream came true. That was the day I finally saw Busted live. Not McBusted (don’t get me wrong, I still love them) but Busted! There is something about finally seeing James, Matt and Charlie sharing the stage together when frankly for a long time it was thought it would never happen. Charlie had always been so adamant that the music Busted created didn’t fulfil him (but has of course now changed his mind); hence the tour is called Pigs Can Fly, which is very fitting. The fact that it’s not just a reunion tour and they are making new music makes it a very exciting time to be a Busted fan again!
Me and my oldest friend turned up to the Barclaycard Arena to see our idols from over 10 years ago. A lot happens in 10 years but my excitement and memories all came flooding back. Not only did all the lyrics come back to me, but also the memories of what Busted meant to me and my friend, which was a lot really. We would go round to each other’s houses and we’d have Busted posters covering our bedroom walls, we would always be listening to their albums together and of course we knew which ones we fancied (mine was always Matt, hers was always James!). We became 12 years old again and it was amazing.
With the exception of Coming Home, Easy and One of a Kind all the songs were from the first two albums released in 2002 and 2003, so most of it was definitely a nostalgia trip. Coming Home was a great track to open up with to showcase their new sound (because let’s face it, the boys have done a lot of growing up in the past 10 years too) and it sounded fantastic live.
Just for reference, here is the set list.
- Coming Home
- Air Hostess
- Falling for You
- Everything I Knew
- You Said No
- That Thing You Do
- Dawson’s Geek
- Who’s David
- Easy
- Meet You There
- One of a Kind
- Thunderbirds Are Go
- Sleeping with the Light On
- Why
- Crashed the Wedding
- What I Go To School For
- 3AM
- Year 3000
The set list was a strong one considering they mostly had their old material to play. I must admit I was surprised to see Dawson’s Geek as one of the songs as the reference is a bit dated and I suppose in a lot of ways some of their songs are a bit dated now. You certainly can’t imagine them writing songs about wanting to date their teacher like in What I Go to School For now they’re in their thirties! But for me and most people there a lot of it is about the memories of that time and so it has to be treated as such. A lot of the classics do stand the test of time more so such as Sleeping with the Light On, which was awesome live with phone lights contrasting the dimmed crowd and everybody singing back the chorus. I definitely cannot wait to see more of their new material because despite the fact some people may roll their eyes at the name ‘Busted’, they are three very capable musicians who play their own instruments and write their own songs. For that they deserve respect as they are certainly not a ‘boy band’ as some people see them as.
In particular I loved their performance of Meet You There because I think for them it’s now such an important song, more so than it was for them at the time. This is because it can now be interpreted as being about the bands break up and how they felt about each other at the time and then getting back together. It’s a lot more poignant and meaningful for both them and the fans than it just being another song about a girl they like. On that note, I love the new recording of it at Abbey Road Studios which you can find on YouTube. You can even hear how much their voices have matured, in particular Matt’s voice.
The guys all seem genuinely pleased to be there when talking to the audience, even though this was their last show of the tour and must have done the show so many times by this point! In particular, Matt’s speeches are always very amusing, he is definitely the cheeky one! In the McBusted concerts previously he’s attempted a Birmingham accent which he did again and exclaimed that he was going to go for a curry after the show because that’s what Birmingham is famous for!
Other notable performances were the ones that got the audience on their feet and dancing of course! In particular were Air Hostess, Thunderbirds Are Go (a song they announced they’d be retiring…) and the final song, Year 3000, which is pretty much their signature song. I think pretty much everyone in the audience got all hot and sweaty from all the singing and dancing. But not nearly as much as James who on the big screen could clearly see he had sweat all over his shirt, not even just his armpits, but everywhere!
I thoroughly enjoyed Busted’s performance and in turn I found a new appreciation for Charlie. Don’t get me wrong, I never did dislike him for leaving Busted like a lot of fans did because it must have been a difficult decision to follow his dreams which meant shattering James and Matt’s dreams at the same time, because it’s been very well known that they thought Busted would just carry on. And even though the band was formed in 2000 they were only really active around 2002-2005, so it’s clear they made a big impact in that time. I think with me and a lot of others it’s rekindled my love for the band and I cannot wait for their new album which I’m sure will bring them new fans too. I will certainly be going to their next tour and it’s early to say but I hope they do stay together for a good while!
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