Busted @ Wembley Arena

On January the 14th 2005 this generation’s equivalent to the breakup of Take that occurred, when pop-rock trio Busted announced at a press conference that they were splitting up after only 3 years as a band. Despite their short time together, their fan base spread across the UK, Spain, Brazil and Japan while they broke records and became the first ever act to have their three debut singles enter the top three in ascending order. For 10 years all members of the band had vehemently denied the possibility of a comeback but somewhere along the line attitudes changed, the creative bond they once shared returned and now Busted are back on a UK Arena tour.

The sold out Wembley Arena was the first stop on the tour, and it was also the biggest stage opening act Emma Blackery had played until that point. The musician/YouTuber was quite literally thrown in at the deep end, having only done a full tour once before in much smaller venues. While it was apparent that this was a massive leap for her no matter how nervous she may have looked on stage she never let it affect her vocal performance, with latest single “Sucks To Be You” one of the highlights of the set. Following Emma came Wheatus, best known for their 2000 single “Teenage Dirtbag” and despite a lack of crowd participation during their set when it came to that song the entire arena was singing along.

The intro for the main act was very different from what we’ve come to expect from McBusted. Clips played on screen of people going about their daily lives while wearing pig masks before the curtains descended to show 200 fans behind the stage in their own masks and the trio shot up from below the stage. Opening with their latest track “Coming Home” before bursting into some older fan favourites. The McBusted era still lingered though as the band offered a special OMFG standing area along with a dramatic dash to a B-Stage (however not as insane as descending from the roof on a UFO). The night could only end in one way though, as the band lament the fact that they’re living their dream again, they finish on Year 3000, the song that truly made them famous and the looks on each of their faces summed up the entire set, pure exhilaration.