I have been constantly mocked and laughed at for my absolute devotion to McFly. Despite this, I will never be embarrassed about my love for four of the most talented musicians in the UK. Sadly, they’re often mistaken for a typical boy band because of the stereotype they’re thrown in to and being categorised with bands such as Westlife and Girls Aloud.
Their most recent tour ‘’Memory lane: The best of McFly’’ was a celebration of the last ten years of their career. Definitely NOT a farewell tour as they’ve announced they are starting work on their next album. Their last night of the tour at Wembley Arena was one of the most atmospheric and energetic concerts I’ve ever been too.
I’ve been to too many McFly gigs to count, but each one has always got me coming back for more. Ex-Busted member and co writer of some of McFly’s earlier songs James Bourne was the first support act. My inner fan girl came out and I must admit I got the butterflies, and when he started strumming out Year 3000, all the words came flooding back into my mind and I am not ashamed to say I may have screamed a little. Okay a lot.
The second support act was a new band, The Vamps. Like most people, I stupidly stereotyped them into being a One Direction tribute act, with the four piece band being stupidly good looking and fluffy hair I just want to ruffle. I was pleasantly surprised at their talent, like McFly they play all their own instruments and sing live. Annoyingly they did a cover of a One Direction/Ed Sheeran song ‘’Little Things’’, which although I couldn’t help sing along too was a bit of a disappointment. Their own material was actually extremely catchy and they are definitely one to look out for.
By the end of the support acts the energy of the whole arena was off the wall. As soon as the lights went down the volume of the screaming and shouting was almost unbearable. They started off with an accapella snippet of ‘Memory Lane’, repeating the line ‘so much has changed’ from the song in harmony. One thing I’ve always appreciated about McFly is their musical creativity and their ability to make each of their tours distinctive, be it with steel drums or special guests.
Turning out hit by hit, I was amazed by how many people knew all of the words to every single song, I was even surprised at my own memory. Favourites such as ‘That Girl’, ‘Obviously’, and ‘5 colours in her hair’ to unreleased tracks such as ‘Smile’ and ‘Bubblewrap’, it’s so plain to see how dedicated their fan base is. I’m not ashamed to say that their slowed down rendition of ‘I’ll Be Ok’ and ‘Bubblewrap’ literally had me in tears.
One of their traditions is they always do some form of cover song on each of their tours. Previously we’ve seen ‘Ghostbusters’, ‘The Promise – Girls Aloud’, ‘Pass out – Tinie Tempah’, ‘Black or white – Michael Jackson’ and a medley of songs including ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’, ‘Somebody that I used to know’ and ‘What makes you beautiful’. This year’s cover was a mash up of ‘YMCA’, ‘It’s alright’, and snippets of other songs such as ‘Don’t worry, be happy’,’ If you’re happy and you know it’ and their own song ‘Smile’. It does sound a little strange but believe me, it worked.
They ended the show with their single ‘The Heart Never Lies’, an emotional song based on the bands dedication to their fans and to each other, changing the lyrics from ‘I’m here forever’ to ‘McFly’s here forever’, a round of falling fireworks and flashing lights ended the show with the guys taking a final bow to the screaming audience, and that was that until the next tour.
All four members of the band each contribute something individual to the arrangement. Front man Danny Jones, guitarist and vocalist brings the energy and excitement to the live show with his consistent attentiveness to the entire crowd. He has one of the most underrated voices in music, husky but powerful with the ability to deliver raw emotion through the powerful lyrics written by Tom Fletcher.
Also vocalist and guitarist, you may know him from his ‘’wedding speech’’ video which went viral on YouTube with over 10 million views. The speech shows Tom using numerous McFly songs and changing the lyrics to say his Thank you’s to the guests. The founder of the band, he is responsible for most of the song writing and his gentle vocals as well as his almost perfect guitar playing make a perfect combination.
Last year’s King of the Jungle Dougie Poynter, and Strictly Come Dancing champion Harry Judd make up the Bass and Drum department, each bringing their own personalities to the show with the constant banter that always includes the audience.
All four members play their instruments and sing live, with no backing tracks or pre recordings. This is what sets McFly apart from the boy band stereotype they are so easily thrown into.
Anyone who is a fan of McFly (and anyone who is but won’t admit it) will know they have a huge variety of songs as well as a massively diverse fanbase. Unlike ‘Directioners’ or ‘Beliebers’ who are of the teenage girl variety, McFlys ‘Galaxy defenders’ could be anyone from a ten year old to my eighty four year old nan who has a soft spot for the drummer who won Strictly Come Dancing.
The band will be celebrating their 10th anniversary this year with two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, however if you’ve not already got tickets I’m afraid you’ll probably miss out, as the 5000 tickets sold out ridiculously quickly, meaning this is going to be something incredibly special, (which I have tickets for!)