The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Busted return for grown-up school reunion
AC/DC’s Angus Young isn’t the only one to wear a school uniform onstage.
Back in the early noughties, punk-pop boy band Busted were in short trousers too, enjoying mammoth success with two multiplatinum albums and sold out arena tours.
By 2005 it was all over as vocalist Charlie Simpson left, effectively ending the band having decided that there was more to music than teen pop.
The decade that followed saw Simpson rocking to moderate success with his grungy Fightstar project, while Matt Willis and James Bourne pursued solo projects.
Willis became known as a TV presenter and winner of I’m a Celebrity . . .Get Me Out of Here in 2006. Drugs, drink, and bitterness keep the band apart, but fast forward to the year 2017 (not 3000) and the trio are back on the road, promoting their Night Driver album, the first from the band in 12 years. There were no shorts in evidence this time around as the reunited Busted walked on in front of a modest-sized AECC audience last night.
Several keyboards positioned onstage hinted at a set that might be more Pet Shop Boys than Blink 182.
Enhanced by drummer Ross Harris and the excellent Nick Tsang on guitar (Ed Sheeran, Jess Glynne) Busted’s sound has certainly changed.
Indeed a sonic rebirth has occurred, a synth heavy 80’s influenced style evident on the three new songs that opened the set. It could have been Daft Punk, jamming with Brit favourites The 1975 at times.
Standing areas at gigs are not for everyone, but like sitting in the front stalls rather than up in the gods at the theatre, what a difference they make to the live experience.
The majority of the AECC crowd chose to be on their feet for the night and were bouncing as guitarist James Bourne started dipping into the hits.
New songs aside, it was Air Hostess, and the power pop perfection of Crashed The Wedding that reminded us of his songwriting craftsmanship.
Talking of hooks, Hampshire four-piece Natives opened the show with a flourish.
A band on the up, their sharp set full of energy, melody and percussion was well received, Can’t Say No being a highlight.
They return to Aberdeen in May. Catch them if you can.
Despite some patchy sound at times, Busted romped through What I Go To School For before closing, perhaps unsurprisingly in the same way that they had started the night with new ballad Those Days Are Gone a reminder to us that their education is over, and the band has grown up. Entertaining.