McFly's 21st Birthday Party 09/10/2024

Rating: ★★★★★

The O2 Arena Rating: ★★★★★

Where I stayed: The Angerstein Hotel (Within walking distance of the venue, though I would be hesitant to return because the key didn’t always work)

SETLIST:

5 Colours In Her Hair
That Girl
Surfer Babe
Broccoli
I Wanna Hold You
I’ll Be OK
Ultraviolet
I’ve Got You
Star Girl
Transylvania
Sorry’s Not Good Enough
Bubble Wrap
Lies
One For The Radio
Everybody Knows
Falling In Love
Party Girl
iF U C Kate
Shine A Light
Love Is Easy
Happiness
It’s All Coming Back To Me Now (Céline Dion cover, Live debut)
Red
Walk In The Sun
Love Is On The Radio / Touch The Rain / Too Close For Comfort / She Left Me / Tonight Is The Night
Room On The 3rd Floor
Obviously
Where Did All The Guitars Go?
Forever’s Not Enough
Honey I’m Home
All About You
The Heart Never Lies

McFly is one of my favourite bands, so it would have been devastating to miss their 21st birthday shows. It is hard to believe the band formed in 2003, as I vividly remember their first album, ‘Room On The 3rd Floor’, hitting the shelves. I didn’t think I would be able to attend this concert, as I had run out of holiday hours and our shop was undergoing a major refit at the same time. I missed the presale but booked a cheap seat when a second date was added, due to high demand. I managed to get the day off work and eventually upgraded my seat to one in Block 102 instead of 413. My sleep pattern was messed up because I had just come back from Florida. I was also fresh off a night shift but excitement and adrenaline kept me going. I had a great view of the stage but the zoom on my Google Pixel 7 always lets me down. Hopefully I’ll get a new one next year. I headed straight to The O2 Arena after my flight from Inverness and walked around. It is easy to pass the time before a concert, as there are dozens of shops and restaurants inside. My backpack needed to be inspected at the door, which I hadn’t thought about, but it only took a few seconds to pass through the x-ray machine. A group of McFly fans were already waiting outside wearing party hats at 10am, showing their dedication. I was happy to have a seat, so I didn’t have to worry about getting close to the stage. I returned in the evening with a smaller bag and had no issues with security, as my belongings were automatically x-rayed at the gate. It felt very futuristic, especially when the cameras knew how much to charge my bank card when I tapped it to enter the shop and picked up a bottle of water. I bought the pink t-shirt designed for these specific shows and enjoyed the sound-check while I waited for the doors to open. I noticed there were mixed reactions to the merchandise but the t-shirt I chose seemed to be the most popular. The doors opened late, so the two opening acts ended up being rushed. Dougie Poynter (bass) announced McFly would take to the stage at approximately 8:10pm on social media but it seemed unlikely they would be able to stick to the schedule.

Billy Lockett was the first opening act, which was exciting as I had just seen him on ‘The Voice UK’. Tom Fletcher (vocals/guitar/piano) and Danny Jones (vocals/guitar) were judges on the recent series and had selected BL to be on their team. I don’t normally like reality TV shows but McFly members keep appearing in them, persuading me to watch. It was unknown whether BL had made it to the next stage or had won the show at the time of the concert. It turned out he had been cut when they narrowed their teams down to three contestants but this wasn’t revealed before the episode aired. He expressed his gratitude to be opening for McFly and said there were more people in the room than he had followers. He talked about having no record label and how it is just him and his mum in charge of his music. They sold CDs at the merch stall outside Block 109 after his performance, for £10 each. I would have gone if they weren’t at the opposite side of the arena from where I was sitting. Time between acts was tight but I hope they managed to sell them all. He has a beautiful voice and it was lovely to hear him play the piano in person. He is clearly passionate about the music he makes and I’m looking forward to exploring more of it. He organised a singalong for ‘Fading Into Grey’, which he joked was about his hair, getting the crowd to chant “If you’re out of love” during the chorus. Sometimes I find crowd participation cringeworthy but it was nice to see everyone paying close attention. Lastly, he wowed us with the familiar song he auditioned with on ‘The Voice UK’, ‘I Could Use A Friend’. Lost Alone came on next after a quick changeover. The band is made up of Steven Battelle (lead singer), Alan Williamson (bass) and Mark Gibson (drums). I had seen them open for McFly last year, during their ‘Power To Play Tour’. Their songs are catchy and I remembered most of them from last November. SB is energetic but has an awkward stage presence as sometimes his jokes fail to land. He appeared to embrace this, asking us to “get weird” with him before their performance of ‘Hostages (Destiny)’. There was a lot of jumping and arm waving, which they got the crowd to replicate. The fans in the ‘OMFG ZONE’ directly in front of the stage looked far more engaged than everyone further back. SB took a moment to show us their fast way of changing guitars between songs, which was interesting. He would coolly step into the new guitar strap in one swift motion. Like he admitted, the demonstration defeated the purpose of being able to do it speedily. They also talked the crowd into a singalong for their final song, ‘The Last Drop Of Forever’, having the crowd repeat “Remember, remember” over and over. They promised a longer set the following night, as they would have more time.

McFly were only ten minutes late, which was impressive considering the delays. DP welcomed us to their birthday party and received deafening screams in response. They opened with ‘5 Colours In Her Hair’, which they often perform last. DP hinted this would be the case in his video, beginning to tell us the first song but cutting himself off. The structure reminded me of Taylor Swift’s ‘The Era’s Tour’, starting with older songs and ending with their newest. There were a lot of rarities in the setlist and they did over thirty songs, finishing at 11pm on the dot. They split the crowd into two during ‘Transylvania’, for our third singalong of the night. It was fun having different sides of the arena chime in at separate parts. I had never heard them do ‘Bubble Wrap’ live and it was a major highlight of the evening, with TF aka. “Elton Tom” as DP called him, on the piano. I love how the song gradually builds and becomes more emotional and chaotic. The introductory notes of ‘Party Girl’ sent the crowd into a frenzy, which confused me because I know fans used to despise it. I quite like it, even though the lyrics aren’t the best. DJ pumped up the crowd during ‘Everybody Knows’ like he normally does and TF brought out his pink ukulele for ‘Love Is Easy’, prompting Harry Judd (drums) to crudely joke he must be “undercompensating for something”, confusing DP and half the audience. Predictably, they moved to the B Stage during the second half. The setup was practically identical to their past ‘One Night Only’ shows, in the same venue. They even had the same light-up microphone cable for my favourite song of theirs, ‘Red’. DJ treated us to ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’, the ballad which won him ‘The Masked Singer’. I was half expecting the piranha costume, as there was a feeling in the air like anything could happen. DP made jokes at their rival band Busted’s expense, before they charged onstage and challenged them to a duel, using clever ‘Back To The Future’ references. They announced a 2025 tour involving both bands then and there, before Matt Willis smashed DP’s favourite guitar Oath Bringer (which he mockingly called “Mother Kisser”) in revenge. Hopefully it was a prop. Some fans complained about Busted’s appearance, saying they should have come on the second (original) night, or not at all. They didn’t repeat the theatrics the second night. You can’t please everybody. I thought it was hilarious. They got us to show Busted how loud McFly fans can be and DJ convinced us to hold the longest note ever recorded at The O2 Arena, during ‘Obviously’. I don’t know whether we broke an actual record, or if the whole thing was just for fun. They ended by thanking us for all of the support throughout the years and inspiring them to keep making music. ‘The Heart Never Lies’ was an appropriate last song, with TF changing the lyrics to “McFly’s here forever”. I hope they are.

I was full of energy at the end of the night, even though I should have been extremely sleep deprived. The second night, October 10th, was filmed and will be broadcast on November 9th. I can’t wait to watch it on TV and relive the night, although it will be a slightly different experience this time around. Backstage scenes are also said to be included, so I bet those will be highly entertaining. I have already bought tickets for the ‘Busted vs McFly Tour’ and will be seeing them at both Scottish dates, in Glasgow and Aberdeen. I was just saying I would like to see Busted if a convenient opportunity arose, so the joint tour announcement came at the perfect time for me. I’m trying to limit the amount of gigs I’m attending, so seeing them both at the same time works out really well. I hope fans don’t get into too many fights over whose side they are on. I wonder how they will crown a winner, if they even plan to. Maybe we will be able to vote for the best band on our phones. People are already making bracelets and designing t-shirts to represent which of the two bands they will be supporting, even though the tour is still nearly a year away. I always get excited for McFly concerts, as each of the band members are seriously impressive musicians. I think more people should listen to their music, as I feel they don’t get the level of respect they deserve. I hope they do more shows at The O2, as it seems to be a tradition when they want to celebrate something big. I noticed my concert earplugs emphasise vocal imperfections but there were absolutely none on this occasion. This wasn’t surprising, seeing how TF and DJ are two of the best vocalists I have come across. It was incredible to hear so many songs from each of their albums. Cycling through them was just like travelling back in time. I knew there would be surprises but I didn’t know what they would be, or if the concert would differ much from their usual ones. A lot of heart and soul was put into these shows and I shouldn’t have underestimated the band. It was great to hear obscure songs too, such as ‘Touch The Rain’, which I listen to regularly. I was sad to leave London, worrying something even more dramatic would happen on the second night and I would maybe miss it. I will need to wait for Saturday night to see if any changes were made from the show I attended.

GALLERY