Sustaining a music career over two decades is a difficult business, but Busted are still selling out arenas...
Sustaining a music career over two decades is a difficult business. While many of 2003’s other big names – the likes of Daniel Bedingfield, David Sneddon, and Gareth Gates – have fallen by the wayside, others are basking in number one albums and major UK tours celebrating twenty years in the limelight.
While The Darkness’ birthday party comes later in the year, this weekend it was the turn of pop-punk trio Busted to unleash a nostalgic setlist in what, as Charlie Simpson tells us, was the fastest-selling night of this anniversary tour.
If the definition of a great gig is that folk have a fantastic evening, then there’s no better place to be than a rocking arena on a Saturday night. And the fact that the trio are all now knocking forty didn’t seem to make an iota of difference to the affection that has seen Busted sell out three nights in the city.
Considering the history of the band – a reasonably acrimonious initial split and a largely fluffed 2016 comeback – there is a surprising reservoir of affection for their brand of early 2000s guitar pop.
Essentially the British answer to the likes of Good Charlotte and Blink 182, “they were my first gig!” was a theme among an audience who still want to hear anthemic pop records about being the uncool one – the likes of Loser Kid and You Said No hitting the spot here.
And, just as the trio hit their stride, they welcomed support band Hanson onto the stage in the newest Busted supergroup, with Hansted doing a guitar-driven version of the brothers’ 1997 number one MMMBop and a singalong version of Sleeping With The Light On.
A great choice here was for the band to play a tight eighty-minute set featuring hit after hit, rather than letting the excitement wane with lesser-known album tracks or newer songs. Who’s David, the terrific Thunderbirds Are Go, and Crashed The Wedding still sound fresh as a daisy, and feature on their Greatest Hits 2.0 album which, the boys tell us, became their first number one album 24 hours before the gig.
Indeed, a bet saw Matt Willis forced to dye his hair with a blonde stripe, with the former King of the Jungle joking “now I have to look like this at the school gate!”
Despite being one of the highlights of the night, I’m not sure how well What I Go To School For holds up in a post #MeToo environment – you’d think that Miss Mackenzie might have a few questions to answer these days – but there’s no denying it is a banger.
Returning to the stage after video of Chris Moyles handing them the Brit award for ‘Best British Breakthrough’ in 2004, a cover of the Undertones Teenage Kicks was an energetic if slightly odd encore choice.
Then, a fantastic video featuring Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown provided the perfect introduction to the Back To The Future inspired Year 3000 – with all the pyrotechnics and tickertape such an 2000s classic demands.
“We want to do this for the rest of our lives” cried Willis at one point and, provided they can take their fanbase with them, there’s no reason we won’t be back here with these songs in another twenty years’ time.
Busted performed at Motorpoint Arena on 23 September 2023.
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