Throw away your misconceptions; bin your prejudice. McBusted – the conglomerate of 00s pop-punk icons Busted and McFly – have been romping around the country, giving teenagers and nostalgic 20-somethings the times of their lives. So shut the hell up and read the reviews, Alt-J fans.

McBusted

 

“Both bands' zest for tongue-in-cheek humour and their ability to take the piss out of themselves is their biggest charm offensive,” writes Lewis Corner for Digital Spy. “A skit seeing them take on American redneck personas is genuinely funny and finishes with them performing 'Star Girl' on a floating UFO in the middle of an arena. It's spectacular and encompasses everything a massive pop concert should be.”

This floating UFO was a real sticking point for The Telegraph’s James Lancho, too, who wrote in his 4-star review: “The stage theatrics were unyielding. Every song had expertly-placed pauses for everyone to jump in the air in unison. Giant sport balls were released into the screaming audience. For McFly’s Stargirl (another number one), the group beamed down into the arena on a spaceship. OMFG read Judd’s bass drum skin. OMFG, indeed.”

“There was nothing to move and no emotional connection, but neither Busted or McFly claimed to have the souls of poets,” suggested John Aizlewood of The Evening Standard. “Instead, there were the simple delights of the snappy Thunderbirds Are Go; Willis in bridal costume for Crashed The Wedding; the harmony-laden Sleeping With The Light On and more running around than the London Marathon. McBusted may not be great, but they were mostly great fun.”

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The Guardian’s Peter Robinson was as happy as anyone to be at McBusted’s big reunion. “Announced as 11 dates but extended to 35 arena shows, this tour could easily have been joyless and desperate,” he wrote, ominously. “Willis and Bourne had seemed like classic Big Reunion material, while McFly's popularity plateaued several years ago. Instead, the show is fun and idiosyncratic, this six-headed pop conglomerate proving far greater than the sum of its parts.”