Sunday 5 June 2016

Pigs Can Fly Tour - Busted

It seems a little pointless writing this blog post as the tour is over now but regardless this tour has been a huge part of my life for the past month as I attended five dates, so it only seems appropriate to do a little write up about it. It's not a review as such just more of a post of me telling everyone how much I love Busted. Before you start reading expect this to be very biased because I just love this band. They’ve been in my life for over half of it and even after they split up 12 years ago I still went to support James Bourne and Matt Willis on their various solo ventures. For me, this tour wasn’t a nostalgic trip down memory lane, I genuinely have never stopped loving this band and I would’ve gone to see them even if they announced they were all juggling oranges on stage for two hours. 

I think Busted’s Pig’s Can Fly Tour came as a bit of a surprise for everyone when it was announced last year. It has been repeatedly said by every member of Busted since the band split back in 2005 that they would never get back together, well this tour is proof that pigs really can fly! It’s been so great seeing James and Matt performing in tiny venues over the years and McBusted were incredible but nothing compares to having Busted back on stage. 

Support for this tour came from Emma Blackery and Wheatus. I'd never heard of Emma Blackery before, she is a YouTuber so perhaps younger audience members would've known her already. However, the few tracks she did on tour were very catchy and her set was lively and enjoyable. I think everyone my age loves Wheatus and knows at least Teenage Dirtbag word for word. I was surprised at how many of their songs I did know! They were the perfect support for Busted. 

Busted came onto the stage to the newly released single, Coming Home, it’s clear that everyone in the audience shared my enthusiasm about Busted being back with the screams being of deafening levels particularly after the first word that comes out of Charlie’s mouth. The entrance was weird with a hundred or so fans’ being on the stage in pig masks but it was so effective. I stood in the onstage ‘Pigsty’ on one of the dates that I attended and it’s such an unusual way to watch the show. Plus how many people can say they’ve been on stage with one of their favourite bands and got to actually be a part of the show? 

Although Busted were quite successful in the early 2000s, they only ever released two studio albums so unsurprisingly they performed nearly all the songs that you wanted to hear including fan favourites such as What I Go To School, Thunderbirds and Meet You There. The band even treated the crowds to two new songs Easy and One Of A Kind, both of which I’m very excited to hear the Busted studio versions of. Before you know it, they’re onto the last song of the night, Year 3000, which still to this day is one of my favourite songs. The set production of the Busted tour is kept to a minimum so you're focussing on the band at all times and not other things that are happening on stage which definitely isn't a band thing. 

It’s actually insane just how incredible the Pigs Can Fly tour was. I have never had so much eye contact and interaction from a band member before at a concert in my life. Nothing beats the feeling of being stood directly in front of your favourite member of a band in the OMFG front standing area and them making you feel like you're the only person in the crowd. Also on this tour they offered meet and greet opportunities, I’ve met James and Matt many times before in the past but complete credit to the entire band for making the meet and greets not at all rushed and for being up for any photo pose you suggested. If possible I’ve walked away from these shows loving this band even more than I did when a month ago. 

On stage the band was saying how this tour isn’t a onetime thing and with an album coming later in the year, I really hope that this is the case. The last month has provided me with some of the best memories so here is to the next tour!

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