The pop-rock favourites McFly and Busted hit the stage at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena for their final show of the tour on Saturday, 8 November, delivering an electrifying performance that reminded everyone why they remain one of the U.K.’s most beloved homegrown bands.
The audience members packed with all ranges from new fans to older fans who have supported both bands throughout the years.
The First Hit: McFly Turn Up the Volume
The evening opened with an energetic set from Mcfly, who wasted no time setting the tone with their signature blend of catchy hooks and nostalgic anthems.
McFly burst onto the stage with their signature high-intensity energy, and from that moment the atmosphere was electric. Harry Judd appeared first, rising dramatically through a trapdoor, soon followed by the rest of the band emerged in unison from below the stage. From the fans pressed against the front barriers to those watching from the highest booths in the arena, every audience member was hooked from start to finish.
Team McFly opened the show with “Where Did All the Guitars Go?,” released in 2023, which really showed that they’ve still got the same energy that they had over two decades ago. Next they transitioned into “Star Girl,” a definite fan favourite that really got people signing along and dancing.
Bringing the tempo down, McFly closed their part of the show with a beautiful performance of “The Heart Never Lies” – a brilliant way to end their high energy set.
The Second Hit: Busted Bring the Noise
Busted hit the stage with their og pop-punk energy. Their setlist was a huge kick of nostalgia for their fans, and really took fans back through the decades from performing hits like “Crashed the Wedding,” “Meet You There,” “Who’s David,” and “What I Go to School For.”
Charlie and Matt gave a heartfelt message to fans regarding the well-loved James Bourne who was unfortunately absent on this tour due to health reasons. Simpson and Willis expressed their love for their missed brother and shared that it was Bourne who encouraged them to proceed the tour without him.
Throughout their set, they welcomed James Bourne’s younger brother, Chris, to the stage to join the performance. Chris stepped in on guitar, a moment that resonated warmly with the crowd as a heartfelt tribute to James. The band shared their thought process on who they would continue the tour with, with Bourne missing, and what they could do to get someone to temporarily step into his shoes. They joked about having McFly, but stated that James had said, “anyone but McFly,” and that Fletcher had “always wanted to be” in their band. This drew some attention from the crowd due to the history between the two bands.
Simpson went on to share that he hadn’t been singing Bourne’s verse in “Sleeping with the Lights On” during this tour, explaining that it’s one of James’ favourite Busted songs. He encouraged the audience to belt out the verse with everything they had in his honour. The boys paid their respects to Bourne and shared their well-wishes for Bourne to get back to good health so that he could rejoin them back on stage where he belongs.
Busted brought the throwback songs and matched the energy from the opening set.
The Final Showdown: McBusted
In easily the most dramatic part of the show, both bands faced off with a drum solo to really set the tempo of the final act. During this, Poynter and Willis took jabs at each other from the opposite end of the arena – a gag that has been present throughout the tour and something fans of both bands looked forward to. Scanning eyes across the arena to see where each of the boys would be, this time at the back end of the arena between two block. Poynter and Willis mocked each other and joked around before going back to business.
Danny Jones and Charlie Simpson put on a great performance of “3am,” which has surpassed 7.5 million streams on Spotify, and “Not Alone,” with over 2 million streams on Spotify, which were stunning slower paced songs from each of the bands – truly a special moment that had the audience captivated and simply in awe.
McFly and Busted stayed on stage together for the final act, delivering a few more of their biggest hits. Both bands energised the crowd with “Five Colours in Her Hair” and “Shine a Light,” before closing the night with “Year 3000.” It was the perfect finale – supercharged, nostalgic, and a fitting echo of the show’s explosive opening.
If there’s one thing for sure, it is that both McFly and Busted really still have it, the energy, the fans, the performance level that they had back when they first hit the music scene. It is clear that both bands have an enduring fan base, that their music—old and new—is timeless, and that they are not going anywhere.
To hear more from McFly, you can visit there website at: https://www.mcfly.com/. For more on Busted, you can head to: https://busted.komi.io/
Leave a Reply