Monday, the 6th February, The Cliffs Pavillion Southend-On-Sea. Busted and their Night Driver tour has hit the hometown of James Bourne. This time, a year and a half ago, Busted being on their second tour in 12 months was just a dream.
Night Driver was one of the most exciting albums of 2016 and James Bourne, Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson are currently touring this album through the U.K and then through Europe later this spring.
The show began with a 30 minute set from Dorset-based band Natives, which saw concert-goers up on their feet and dancing.After a short interval, the lights fell and the hall exploded in cheers. James Matt and Charlie appeared on stage together, smiling at each other and ready to rock.
The opening song was the super catchy ‘Kids with computers’ off the Night Driver. Instantly the crowd were up and dancing. Fans old and young were up on their feet. The next song Charlie announced is to be Busted’s next single. Thinking of you. The contagious electro- pop rock song saw all 3 members of the band perform with extreme energy. They were dancing and losing themselves in the music that they had created.
The first single ‘On What Your On’ was played next, with a slightly more rocky edge. Again this was a song played with everything Busted had within them. The crowd interaction was first class. Winks, points, and plectrums were thrown leaving fans feeling like they were able to have their idols give them that brief moment of attention.
Classic Busted songs were played next, with the crowd favorite ‘Air Hostess’ kicking off the throwbacks. As always fans all went insane for the song. The rest of the setlist was a mix of old Busted songs and tracks off the new Night Driver album. Fans reacted to the new sound the same way Busted did. Like every single word and beat was the most important thing at this moment.
The best surprise of the night was the reworked version of ‘Whose David’. Busted had sped the tempo up, and given it a blast of the ‘Night Driver’ magic. Synthesizers and electric guitars added gave fans a pleasant shock. The encore came in the form of Busted’s debut single ‘What I Go To School For’. Performed still with that enthusiasm that was present when the single was released 14 years ago.
The penultimate song was by far our favorite. ‘Coming Home’, the song that busted released as a part of their comeback. Every single person in the room sang the anthem line for line with reasons personal to themselves.
To finish the 90-minute set, ‘Those Days Are Gone’ was the last song. Although it is a song that starts off slow-paced, it soon crashes into another electropop classic!
Celeb Mix asked Busted’s most dedicated fan Melissa Larson, what her opinion on the Southend stop of the Night Driver tour is;
“Busted are my all-time favorite band, I’ve been traveling around the country for the Night Driver tour, but seeing them perform in Southend was one of the most magical nights with all of the band’s history based in Southend.” – We couldn’t agree with Melissa more.
James Bourne seemed thrilled the whole evening to be playing his hometown. As always his cheeky smile lit the whole room. Matt Willis was as energetic as he had been back in the original busted days, almost as if time had stood still. And as for Charlie Simpson, he is back. Louder, more energetic and more passionate than ever.
Tickets are still available here for the remaining dates of the Night Driver tour. If you have attended any of these shows or are going to do so, tweet us @CelebMix and let us know!