It took me about 4 listens to 5 Colours In Her Hair to decide that I loved McFly. After realising that they weren’t just trying to be the new Busted I gave them the respect that they deserved. They’re clever songwriters, talented musicians and genuinely nice, funny guys! When they first burst onto the scene (a whole 10 years ago now!) I was at that young age where I would cover my entire bedroom with posters! I’d get any magazine with them in it and stick the cut-outs all over the walls, and get up early to catch all of their TV appearances and record them on video tape (so old school)! As the years have passed I’ve grown up alongside McFly, the posters have come down and my obsession has ebbed, but my love of the music has never faltered. If anything, as I’ve grown up and learned more about everything I’ve developed more respect for what they do. The thing about McFly is that they’re often misinterpreted. Yes, they are a pop band and they are boys, so they get branched under the ‘boy band’ bracket. The problem with this is that ‘boy band’ isn’t the most respected term in the musical dictionary, and brings to mind names such as Boyzone, N*Sync, Blue and One Direction. These ‘boy bands’ have all had strings of hits and do have some pretty good songs, but there is one massive difference that people seem to overlook – McFly write their own music and play their own instruments. First and foremost they are musicians, but they don’t seem to get the same respect that indie and rocks artists do and I think that is because of the genre of music they write. If everyone would take a minute to listen to their catchy riffs and witty lyrics, I think they’d maybe see McFly in a different light. And, let’s face it, they put on an incredible live show.
Last night I went to the final date of The Best Of McFly Tour at Wembley, which would be maybe the sixth of seventh time I’ve seen McFly over the years, and it was beyond amazing. The energy was relentless, the songs were impeccable, and the boys’ banter broke down the barrier between the stage and the audience.
Opening with an acapella snippet of Memory Lane (which would be later played in full with lots of arm waving and crowd participation) McFly set the tone for a high quality night. With upbeat tracks like Star Girl and Shine A Light there was plenty of opportunity for the crowd to get dancing, but a heart wrenching rendition of Bubble Wrap was a total show-stealer for me. As with any concert these days, there was an encore which saw the boys perform their latest hit Love Is Easy and their hugely successful Comic Relief single All About You, before ended on a super high with The Heart Never Lies during which Tom changed the lyrics to “McFly til forever”.
As a McFly fan from the start, it was obvious that I was going to love this show, but my Mum, who loves their hits but doesn’t know them all that well, was so surprised at how good their live show was! She grew up watching the likes of Queen and Whitesnake and definitely thought that McFly could give them a run for their money! If that’s not a massive complement to the guys as musicians, I don’t know what is!
So to McFly I say, thanks for the last ten years and here’s to many, many more!
