Fresh off the back of a gruelling festival season, McFly are back on the road in celebration of their 20th anniversary, as well as their latest album release Power To Play.
Back for another dose, McFly play the second of two consecutive shows at Birmingham’s O2 Academy alongside good friends LostAlone who kicked off the evening. LostAlone frontman Steven Battelle co-wrote seven of the tracks from Power To Play, making his involvement with the tour rather fitting. The four piece rockers hailing from Derby delivered an enthusiastic opening set that was filled to the brim with riffs. Being the only support for the evening meant that LostAlone were solely responsible for warning up the crowd and they do so with all their might. Whilst attendees for the most part were static, hits ‘Crusaders’ and ‘I’m A Fire That You Can’t Put Out’ got bodies moving and their set concluded with cheers.
After a brief intermission, the audience are stood in anticipation for tonight’s headliners to take to the stage. In true McFly style, their pre-show song choice of ‘Y.M.C.A’ blasts through the speakers and signifies the start of their set. Launching into the lead single from Power To Play ‘Where Did All The Guitars Go?’, the academy venue erupts and it becomes clear that; just like the song states, rock n’ roll is good for the soul. The track is closely followed by another choice from the new record ‘Land of the Bees’ before unveiling 2008 hit single ‘One For The Radio’.
Showcasing Power to Play tracks, their set is brimming with feel-good anthems and heartfelt sing-along moments throughout. With such an extensive back catalogue, many fan favourite tracks are often sidelined but tonight’s show includes throwbacks in the form of ‘Friday Night’ and rock infused anthem, ‘Corrupted’ which saw bassist Dougie Poynter dabble in lead vocals. Other deep cuts ‘Too Close For Comfort’ and a stripped back version of ‘Not Alone’ are met with applause and a sea of phone lights that flooded the room.
With LostAlone supporting on this tour, it would be a wasted opportunity to not have Steven Battelle collaborate on a track - which is exactly what they did during ‘Shine On’. The performance was an action packed one as guitars flailed around the stage before Danny Jones made his way through the crowd to perform ‘Red’ - closing the main portion of the set. Their set concluded with non-other than 2004 debut hit single ‘Five Colours In Her Hair’ which never fails to get a crowd moving. An aesthetically pleasing LED lights show and rainbow confetti accompanies the closing number as the band bid their farewells.
Without a doubt, McFly are masters of their craft. For a band whose career has already spanned twenty years, their hard-work and gratitude is very much evident. Love them or hate them, McFly put on one hell of a show and have been successful in evolving their sound whilst maintaining their dedicated fan base of Galaxy Defenders.