“Make sure you write us a good review,” instructs Matt Willis with a wry smile, as he drifts back into the fold to make his fifth attempt at leaving the Busted after-party for a cigarette. He fails again, of course, because with every step he’s enveloped in the warm admiration of everyone he passes. Normally, my journalistic integrity would win out over such joking attempts at coercion. But this is Busted, and the 10-year-old in me could never disobey them.
Thankfully, the moral conundrum is made infinitely easier by the fact that the first night of their comeback tour is an unmitigated success. It is a joyous and pure burst of nostalgia - a nostalgia diluted only by a peppering of new songs (which - much to the collective, tangible relief of everyone here tonight - are actually very good). It might have been over a decade since Busted last performed together, but everything clicks back into place immediately - even Charlie Simpson, the elusive missing jigsaw piece that no-one ever thought would be found.
Here’s the 6 most surprising things that happened at Wembley Arena last night.
The intense, mildly sinister opening
In the fifteen minutes leading up to the start of the gig, the various rock tunes being piped through the speakers are occasionally interrupted by sudden, staticky flashes of image and sound, which disappear so quickly you wonder if you were the only one who saw it. Before anyone has time to ponder it though, sheets of sheer black material cascade to the ground, revealing a wall of people stood absolutely still, each one of them wearing a white pig mask. It’s somewhere between Silence Of The Lambs and Donnie Darko.
The strength of the new material
It should never comes as a surprise that Busted are capable of writing a good hook, but there’s a pervasive snobbery lingering around pop music that makes it so. They don’t inundate the set with new material tonight - they’re under no illusions as to what everyone’s here for - but what they do showcase is enjoyable, grown-up synth-pop. Even when James shows up with a keytar - a very bad sign 99% of the time - things remain positive. Quite an achievement.
The amount of lyrics that went over fans' heads at the time
It’s a strange feeling to yell along to every single word of ‘Falling For You’, as muscle memory from years of repeat listens kicks in, and find yourself singing, “My bed is wet, don’t know how.” Or to suddenly realise, as ‘What I Go To School For’ ends, that the teacher and her teenage pupil driving off into the sunset maybe isn’t the cause for celebration you deemed it to be when you were 11. Busted were always good at alluding to swear-words without actually saying them, too. One of the night’s few low points is their entirely unnecessary decision to replace the lyric, “Somebody saw, you sleep around the town” with, “You’re just a whore who sleeps around the town” - particularly when it follows the line, “You stupid lying bitch.” It’s 2016 guys, it’s not fun to call women bitches and whores anymore, even if they’ve got David’s number on their phone.
The songs still stand up over a decade later
OK, so their accents are more American than most Americans, and the lyrics are pervy in the way only a 17-year-old could be (“triple breasted women swimming round town… TOTALLY NAKED”), but the pop melodies and punk-rock guitar riffs are undeniably infectious.
Mcfly’s attempts to sit in the audience without causing a small riot
Given that Tom Fletcher was a member of Busted for 24 hours, and that Mcfly joined forces with Matt Willis and James Bourne last year for a McBusted tour, it’s hardly surprising that they turn up to offer their support. What is surprising, though, is seeing them traipse through the auditorium to take their seats slap bang in the middle of the crowd. A lot of screaming ensues.
The pervasive enthusiasm of superfans
Nearly three hours after the gig has come to its sweaty conclusion, there’s still a handful of fans waiting outside the venue clutching posters in one hand and a sharpie in the other. Perhaps they, too, queued for three hours to meet them in a shopping centre in 2002, and cried when the band left before they’d reached the front. No? Just me?
