Photo Credit: Alicia Woods
Words: Caitlin Mellors
Sunday night saw the cobbled streets of Lincoln filled with thousands of people eager to see McFly take the stage at Lincoln Castle. The night promised to be a good one, with the huge crowds of both young fans and dedicated OG’s, plenty of food and drink flowing, and good music.
Remember Monday opened the show, the recent Eurovision stars taking to the stage and grabbing the attention of the crowd instantaneously. They played a fun set, ending with their iconic ‘What The Hell Just Happened?’ that got the crowd singing along so loudly.
With the mood set, on came Scottish Rock Royalty, Twin Atlantic. Despite being on a cocktail of drugs, “Not the good kind, the bad kind” to quote frontman Sam McTrusty on him being ill, they brought the energy levels up and they kept them there. Everyone was properly hyped after their set, having played fan favourites such as ‘Free’, ‘Hold On’, and ending with their hit ‘Heart and Soul’.
After two epic openers, it was McFly’s turn to tear up the stage. Twenty three years into their career, McFly prove that time does not erase all things. They are not surviving; they are thriving. The pop rock veterans took to the stage with that seasoned confidence you can only achieve from doing this for so long. The entire show was a masterclass in professional showmanship and having a laugh with your mates – you could see the genuine joy from the band and connection with the crowd. They brought proper pop nostalgia and rockstar energy to Lincoln that night.
The crowd participation was relentless, with frontman Danny Jones demanding that the audience clap, point, and jump. At one point I swear I saw Jones do the universal hand signal for a circle pit when he was messing around with some fans at the barrier. Honestly, a circle pit at a McFly gig would be iconic, and I would totally get on board with it. Things did get heavy when ‘Red’ started playing, Jones commanding the crowd to drop to the floor and jump back up in a chaotic yet synchronised bounces.
The band aren’t shy about their two decade tenure, in fact, they fully embrace it. They joked with the crowd about a solid chunk of them being younger than the band’s twenty three years, even getting the young fans to cheer and wave their arms about just to rub it in. More theatrics ensued, with some good old fashioned leg kicking choreo during ‘Star Girl’, the crowd all auditioning to become the fifth member with a singalong medley, and a fan vote on how we all felt about Tom Fletcher’s new moustache (this vote split the crowd). And no matter how professional one might be, when there’s a moth flying around the stage you stop everything and watch it flit around the stage – which is exactly what Jones and Fletcher did.
Things slowed down toward the middle of the gig, when Jones and Fletcher performed ‘Room on the 3rd Floor’, the very first song they wrote together, in what can only be described as “intimately bromantic”. The duo shared a mic throughout the song, and at the end as the pair gazed into each other eyes, Jones remarked “I’ve never seen your tash this close”. Fletcher’s response? A peck on the lips.
The show carried on, and the boys brought out Remember Monday to perform a stunning rendition of ‘Happiness’. After playing fan favourites such as ‘I Wanna Hold You’, ‘Star Girl’, ‘Obviously’, and ‘All About You’, it was obviously fitting to end on the ultimate McFly banger – ‘5 Colours in Her Hair’. During which, Fletcher’s son Buzz joined the band on stage, guitar in hand, and played the iconic song with them. It was a heartwarming way to end such an amazing show, and it really cemented what the night was all about; music, fun, and togetherness. If this is what McFly have managed to achieve in the last twenty three years, bring on the next twenty three.
Taped Magazine 