On the very day that McBusted announced performing at two huge outdoor live shows (Weston-super-Mare Beach and Ipswich Chantry Park), ESP’s Mikey Clarke spoke to the supergroup to find out more…
For those that don’t know (where have you been?) McFly and Busted have joined forces to create McBusted. ESP was told this morning that they’ll be performing at Weston-Super-Mare beach and Ipswich Chantry Park on June 28 and 29 respectively. Adding to the excitement and joining McBusted will be special guests The Backstreet Boys, Scouting for Girls, 5ive and Diversity.
Pop groups McFly and Busted have 14 combined number 1 records and 15 million combined record sales. It makes sense having the two groups together. During my exclusive interview with the lads (Matt Willis, James Bourne, Dougie Poynter, Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones and Harry Judd) I wanted to know whose idea it was.
James said, “It was really down to the people of Manchester. I played some Busted songs at a McFly gig in Manchester for a bit of a laugh and the crowd responded to it really well. There was an amazing atmosphere.” Tom added, “That was the moment we could see there was still a lot of love for the bands. We all then started discussing how we could make it work.”
I wondered what it must be like for two bands to suddenly be playing each other’s hits. Harry described it as, “Surprisingly natural. Our musical creativity is quite similar. Our personalities are quite similar too. We’ve all known each other for over ten years. That’s why we all agreed to do McBusted. Performing the songs together feels right, and hanging out together feels right. We’re having a really fun time.”
Fans of McBusted have been in a frenzy since they announced their unification last year. A 35-date 2014 arena tour including three sold out O2 shows and a headline show at Hyde Park have sent fans into hysteria. The group revealed to me how they weren’t expecting such a great response. “None of us thought that the tour would be this popular,” said Tom. “So we’re going to put on a great show to say Thank You to everyone. We will be giving the crowds all the hits they want to hear, including Year 3000, What I Go to School For, All About You, and 5 colours in Her Hair.”
You may have noticed the line-up is missing the former Busted member, Charlie Simpson. Matt told me, “It’s no secret that Charlie wasn’t happy with the band towards the end. Things are better now but I think Charlie’s still not ready for us to perform together. He’s in a good place though and I think he may even have his own album out later this year.” James added, “For years we’ve been asked to do gigs as Busted, but without Charlie there wasn’t any point. McBusted has given us the opportunity to perform again in a way that isn’t sad and feels right. Charlie supports us and we would happily have him join us if he wanted to.”
On the topic of a possible McBusted album, Harry explained, “There could be one. We’ve written songs together all the time so that side of the things wouldn’t be a problem. As Justin Bieber once said… never say never.” Tom told me, “We’d want to give our fans something incredible. We don’t want to say we’ll definitely do something until we’ve written something awesome.”
So why should you spend your hard earned cash on seeing McBusted? In the words of Dougie, “This could be a one off event. Who knows if this will ever happen again? We plan to be putting together one hell of a memory and we want the crowds to have their own memories too, just in case these are our last gigs together.”
The members of McBusted announced they were all particularly looking forward to hearing The Backstreet Boys perform, telling me “We are all huge fans.” The American superstars (who’ve sold over 130 million records) also commented on the upcoming performances, saying – “For Weston-super-Mare we’re going to feel right at home on the beach like our home state Florida! Let’s make it an unforgettable beach party.” And of the Ipswich date, “We also haven’t played on the East Coast of the UK before so we’re looking forward to seeing all your faces and can’t wait!”
If you want to see McBusted (alongside The Backstreet Boys, Scouting for Girls, 5ive, and Diversity) at Weston-super-Mare beach or Ipswich Chantry Park, tickets go on general sale at 10am on Friday January 31 from www.aeglive.co.uk but grab a copy of the latest issue of ESP Magazine out on Wednesday January 29 and you could go for free in our fabulous competition. We have two pairs of tickets up for grabs for the Ipswich gig!