Busted - Portmouth Review

On the evening of the 13th February, an event that I never even thought that would happen within my lifetime occurred – I saw the one and only Busted live. Although I hadn’t heard their new album, I owed it as a debt to 10-year-old me whose heart was broken many years ago, to buy tickets as soon as they were on sale, but, as far as gigs go, I am still in two minds.

Although not previously announced, the supporting act, ‘Natives’ was a pleasant surprise for the evening. Honestly, they are not the support that I had expected, especially when they started the set with each member of the four-piece playing the drums in perfect unison. Playing with a heavy use of drums, guitars and keyboard, their music was an incredible rocky, techno, punk-pop fusion that forced the audience off of their feet. Although slightly pitchy at times within the first song, their performance escalated into a great way to start the night and pump up the crowd ready for Busted.

‘Natives’, consisting of Andy White, Greg Day, Jack Fairbrother and Jim Thomas.

As the lights darkened after the break, a chorus of screams echoed around the venue, as millions of excited fans from past and present edged closer to stage. The electricity was short lived, as instead of running onto the stage, grabbing their guitars and scissor jumping their way around the venue, the trio took their places behind separate keyboards, remaining static for the first few songs. Obviously their latest album was a lot slower than that of their adolescent years, but this new level of maturity slightly sucked the electricity out of the gig as a whole. To me, this could have been avoided with a slightly more diverse set list, as opposed to having such a limited number of their fast paced classics.

‘Busted’, consisting of James Bourne, Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis.

The second that the synth-infused soft rock switches to the rugged, teenage pop-punk, the inner tweens of every audience member escaped from the darkest depths of their souls, causing a crazy transformation of atmosphere. Don’t get me wrong – I have since listened to their latest album ‘Night Driver’, but such a large number of this album's songs were played, I felt more as though I was tolerating it, rather than enjoying it.

Maybe in the future, the set list will improve to the level that their vocals have, and as a whole, I still enjoyed the night. ‘Year 3000’, ‘Crashed the Wedding’, ‘Air Hostess’ and ‘What I go to School for’ were all included, but I will never get over the upset that ‘Thunderbirds’ didn’t make the cut.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical Review

Image
It’s no secret that I’m a huge Meatloaf fan. Spending the last twenty years of my life (which is getting worryingly closer to 21) being raised on the likes of Meatloaf, has led to his music, along with Jim Steinman’s lyrics, to symbolise more than words can put into perspective – which could explain why my levels of both excitement and gut-wrenching panic made it to new heights when I was informed I would be seeing Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical. With pre-show nerves, induced by the fear of what was about to happen to the songs that have shaped me into who I am, I entered the Coliseum Theatre, London, and headed straight to the bar. This is when the immersive nature of the show began. With a bottle of Pride of Obsidian in my hand, I took my seat and began reading The Obsidian Times. A small group of actors took to the stage, background acting around a motorbike whilst remaining audience members took to their seat. Then it began – and I was utterly blown away. So much
Keep reading

Sexy Beast Review

Image
Experimental, violent and a cast to die for; Jonathan Glazer enters his directing career with a break-through crime drama, broken up with comedy. Sexy Beast has had a great reception over the years, and even as a modern viewer I was not disappointed with the intriguing storyline, as well as the amazing cast performances. The film starred many well-known faces especially Ray Winstone, who played the lead character of Gal, and Ben Kingsley. The film revolves around a retired gang member named Gal, who decides to move to Spain along with his wife Deedee, played by Amanda Redman, and his friends Aitch and Jackie, played by Caven Kendall and Julianne White. The seemingly peaceful storyline soon takes a huge twist when Don Logan, a humorously aggressive troublemaker played by Ben Kingsley, comes onto the scene. It was your typical crime drama film, which also had more artistic twists to ensure it was different from the rest. Winstone played his usual ‘hard man’ character, and there’s
Keep reading

'The Band' Musical Review

Image
Take That are probably the biggest boyband from the nineties, shooting to fame with their daring fashion, cheesy dance moves and timeless songs - so it’s no wonder that their new musical, The Band, is excelling in ticket sales, with many fans eager to see how their favourite teenage to modern day tunes are portrayed. In yet another scripting masterpiece from Tim Firth, The Band is not a tale of Take That, but instead, a highly intelligent and emotive story set between two concerts 25 years apart, and a group of five friends, who tragically become four, and the way in which music has shaped their lives. Tim Firth features all the hits of Take That, in ways I did not expect or imagine, and uses the songs as a way to enrich the storyline, as opposed to just cram them in for the sake of it. The show is instantly relatable for music lovers of any music taste and age, embracing the theme of musical idols as well as those of friendship, ageing and loss. Featuring realistic humou
Keep reading