When's the last time you actually listened to McFly? I don't mean in passing in a shop or when a clip goes viral, I mean actively put on McFly's music. It's a question I found myself pondering when I eagerly went to see their gig at the new London venue, British Airways ARC, on Thursday night.
While always more of a Busted girl, I've considered myself a McFly fan since first hearing 5 Colours in Her Hair on the radio in the 00s. Yet, standing in the crowd as Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter, Harry Judd, and Tom Fletcher gave their all on stage, I felt like an imposter. Don't get me wrong, the show was fantastic and I enjoyed every second, but I had the heartbreaking realisation at some point I lost touch with McFly. The saddest thing is, I don't think I'm alone in that.
A Band Let Down by the Public
For a band that is one of the best live acts around, the British public is letting McFly down. They opened their show in the Kensington Olympia venue with 2023 track Where Did All the Guitars Go? A defiant number about the lack of bands in the charts. It's an ode to live music, championing real instruments that feels even more poignant three years on from release in the face of AI-generated music.
'Who's gonna play for the kids with long hair/ When nobody cares?/ How will they cope with the pain?/ Don't you know that rock n' roll is good for the soul?' the band sing.
The Charts Drought
For several years now, there's been a serious drought when it comes to bands in the singles charts, with The Beatles' Now and Then marking the last time a band got to number one. That was in November 2023. And it was The Beatles. Before that, it was Little Mix in 2021, and McFly haven't had a top 10 single since Love on the Radio in 2013. Yet, their 2020 and 2023 records landed at number two on the album chart; their highest position since Wonderland hit number 1 in 2005.
Critically, the albums and singles all perform similarly – a mixed bag other than their acclaimed debut – so it's nothing to do with quality. While this could be partially down to the singles charts being far harder to crack nowadays, it suggests the average Brit just isn't casually listening. Despite the fact they've released two charting albums recently – and as they teased at the gig, are working on another – we've allowed McFly to fall out of culture.
Individual Relevance vs. Band Obscurity
Individually, each member feels relevant thanks to musicals, reality TV, and some (unfortunate) scandals. Most people know of them and if you ask the general public, they'd probably say they like or even love McFly. But even as music lovers scream for guitar bands to listen to, the actual music just isn't on the radar in the same way.
You'd think their popularity would have only grown after their McBusted tours and comeback, given their more rockier approach compared to pop-friendly earlier hits. As I looked at the Kensington crowd, I wondered whether there was a little bit of misogyny at play here, as the fandom remains predominantly women. Their appeal and self-confessed lack of that 'cool guy' persona meant they were often grouped into the cheesier boy band category, alongside Busted and later 5 Seconds of Summer.
While there's nothing wrong with being in a boy band, McFly themselves have cited The Beach Boys, The Who and even Prince as inspirations. Over the years, the age range has widened, with plenty of men rocking out, but the band's choice of Remember Monday as an opener suggested they know their audience quite well.
A Return to Form
Sadly for the trio, the crowd didn't quite turn out but I was pleasantly surprised by latest song Delusional after not really warming to their Eurovision number. Probably helped that the track, filled with slightly (very) stalkerish lyrics against their West End-ready vocals, was co-written by Danny and Dougie. The song feels like a return to that 00s sound; those opening guitars would sit at home in any early Busted or McFly track, just with a girl band lyric makeover.
Pop-rock may have fallen out of favour in the charts but that doesn't mean the music itself has gone, and there's a reason that sound dominated the 00s. In the dismissal over their music as mid or too poppy, guitar fans are missing out on what is just a damn good show. Ever the hype men, they were constantly playing with the crowd and demanding that we matched their energy.
As Danny and Tom broke into guitar solos, it was hard to ignore the fact that, under the silly antics, the quartet are really just talented musicians. It's time we ditched the snobbery (or misogyny) around the music and finally gave McFly their flowers. With a new album in the works and the band cropping up across the UK for various shows, it's never been a better time to remember you're probably a McFly fan. Even if you've forgotten to listen.
