McFly, Reemer, Avenue @ Metro Radio Arena 08/11/08

This evening the arena is crammed with all the expected bunny-eared, tutu-clad teeny-boppers, the younger McFly fans with their mummies, plus a surprising number of 20-something males getting w**kered at the bar...
First up is Avenue. Think no instruments, think backing tracks, think dance routines, think Five meets some Xfactor reject, think oh dear...
Delivering more the sort of thing I was expecting, Reemer are probably the perfect McFly support band – cheesy, poppy, good-looking, charismatic, and nowhere near exciting enough to upstage the main boys. They certainly have the cringe factor - the lead singer’s enthusiasm almost bordering on scary as he lies across the stage, thighs-galore, singing meaningfully into the camera and making the girlies swoon. As for their music, they will obviously appeal to a younger crowd such as this, with barely-memorable choruses and monotonous lyrics such as ‘I could wrap you up in circles...if you like’ repeated over and over. It all sounds about ten years too late, and even ten years ago it would be nothing new. It’s a shame; they seem like lovely boys, but lovely boys don’t make rock stars.
You can always count on Tom, Danny, Dougie and Harry. No matter how much someone may criticise these boys, they never fail to deliver, and you can fall in love with each one individually as the show progresses. As the opening music builds up for their grand entrance onstage I couldn’t help but feel 16 again, let’s face it - when I loved them the first time around. They can sing, they can write good songs, and they can fly. Yes, McFly can fly. After balls of fire, fireworks, confetti and allsorts...a platform lowers and the boys clamber onto it as it travels over the crowd and plonks itself down right in the middle of the arena; a pretty amazing sight. I must say I prefer McFly’s older stuff, I seem to have lost interest recently, maybe that’s because I’m older and my music taste has changed (improved?) or maybe their songs aren’t as impressive and exciting as they once were? Whatever the answer, it was a damn enjoyable show.

Review by Marzena Dabrowska