LIVE: McBusted.

 

McBusted, Phones 4 U Arena, Manchester 09/05/14.

Two things: I got told off the other day for being a lazy blogger. I’ve totally been a lazy blogger. In my defense I started film school and moved to London and have been in classes all day and shooting every weekend. A PITIFUL DEFENSE. Where have the cakes been, I was asked. Where HAVE the cakes been. I will attempt to remedy this.

Thing 2: The tragedy of my teenage life was the split of Busted (19th February 2005, a date carved into my soul). I am going to be facetious about this, as I am about everything, but rest assured that my heart was Legitimately Shattered and I wrote diary entry after diary entry. The diary entries are TOO EARNEST TO EVEN BE FUNNY, so I will not cite my sources here. Like, you know when something is so impossibly embarrassing, but at the same time you just wanna take your nerdy 14 year old self in your arms and stroke her hair because she cares so so much about this band and these boys and they make her feel like a real person for the first time in her life.

And the thing is that 14 year old me never got to see them play live, and while my melodrama eventually abated, I never forgot that bit. So I had to go and see McBusted. I made a promise to a lady.

This was the MOST INCREDIBLE NIGHT. I’ve seen McFly live a few times, and they always put on a staggering show, but I wasn’t prepared for what watching James Bourne sing did to my heart. You know when you can see how much people love each other? And like, the joy in this arena, I swear to god. It was hilarious and joyful and amazing, and I knew every word; and I remembered why younger-me identified so hard with James, who knew about being the loser kid. Like, not the loser kid in a teen movie who’s still good-lucking and funny or whatever; the kid who doesn’t make proper eye contact and likes sci-fi too much; the kid that someone on the school bus literally sits on top of, and when challenged, says ‘it’s okay, she’s not hot’ (hilariously, I grew up to be super hot, but whatever). And I’m twelve years old, trying to teach myself guitar in order to learn Busted songs, and I think that was the first time I’d had someone who moved like me, but who was talented and famous and hadn’t forgotten, and who sang, ’Just because you’re nerdy…’ doesn’t mean you’re not gonna make it.

OH NO I STOPPED BEING FACETIOUS AND GOT EMOTIONAL, GODDAMMIT.

It meant a lot, is what I’m saying. I said I’d do it, and I did.