McFly at the Royal Albert Hall 19-09-13

Many pop bands, and in particular, boy bands have come and gone over the past 10 years or so. From Take That reforming, to One Direction exploding onto the musicsphere, one band have seen this past 10 years out, and plan on staying together for the next 10 too. When McFly stepped onto the music scene with childhood party classics like '5 Colours in Her Hair' to the hopeless romantic sounds of 'All About You', they never knew that their success' would lead them to four sold out 10 year anniversary shows at the prestigious and beautiful Royal Albert Hall in September of 2013, 10 years and one month after the band originally formed. Good sing-a-long music, great personalities and a generally good time whenever they're around, is it any wonder these boys are so popular?

I arrived at the Royal Albert Hall at 8pm on the 19th September, the first sold out night of the 4-show weekend. Being a huge fan of of the band, even I was unsure of what to expect, as the anticipation for these shows had been so large and so highly built up, no one had any clue whatsoever what they had in store for us, all very top secret, I know. With this in my mind, I went in with a blank slate and sat back and relaxed, ready for the boys to come out and energy to burst into the room. Immediately, my friend and I were met with a buzz of excitement as we found our seat in the 3rd row, banners, face paints, t-shirts and flags from fans that had travelled across the country and even the world to say Happy 10th Birthday to a band they had loved for so long. Even the venue itself glistened with light and a sense of love and passion for the four guys that were about to come out on stage.

There is no love greater than between a man and his ukulele!

At 8:35, a projector screen rolled down above us and started playing thank you's from celebrities and fans alike, including comedic messages from Chris Moyles, whom would play McFly's number one hit 'Star Girl' every Friday morning on his breakfast show, to others like Keith Lemon and Fearne Cotton. As these were playing, in between, a montage of the boys started as they prepared to come out on stage, the emotion was high and thousands of teenage, adult and even child fans cheered and clapped, eagerly awaiting the first sightings of the boys. The emotional black and white montage stopped, and the whole crowd found themselves singing and dancing along to the YMCA, a typical party/funny vibe you would expect at a McFly concert, whilst on screen the boys were dressed up and dancing to it too.

The dancing stopped as Tom, Dougie, Harry and Danny ran on stage, the clicking of Harry's drumsticks indicated the beginning of the song, and instantly the atmosphere turned to another level as the whole crowd danced along to 'Saturday Night', a song off their very first album 'Room on the 3rd Floor'. I glanced around at everyone dancing and boogieing, and I knew we were in for a very special evening. I have never been at a concert before in which quite literally everyone, parents included, were up and out of their seats grooving along to the music, it was a sight to behold and what a great one.

Classics from 'Star Girl' to 'Obviously' were played, including 'Little Joanna', a song they had never done live before. They even got Doug up on the organ for the intro of 'Transylvania'! As if this wasn't enough, to top things off, two thirds of everyones favourite childhood band "Busted", James Bourne and Matt Willis came on and sang 'Year 3000', 'Air Hostess' and finished with McFly's own 'Shine A Light', a piece of musical history as Tom Fletcher later on described it in a tweet after the show.

James Bourne and Tom singing Year 3000!!!! -10 year old Maddie innerly squeals-

A just under two-and-a-half hour set list later, many tears, celebrity message interludes, laughs, a very McFly musical and some opera later, the show was over, and what a night it was.

It became very clear exactly why McFly had been so successful in those 150 minutes. They are without a doubt one of the most hard working, caring, loving bands out there, constantly putting 110% in for their fans, and you can't help but smile and want to be a part of their journey when you listen to their music or even just see their cheeky grins. In the last song of the set, 'The Heart Never Lies', Tom Fletcher sang 'now 10 years are over, and we're still together, it's not always easy, but McFly are here forever', and honestly, as seriously cliche and cheesy as it sounds, I truly believe it.

If you ever get the chance to go and see them live, whether you're young or an older fan and be it at one of their own shows or at a festival, McFly are always sure to put on a great show and I would 100% recommend it to anyone. Just awesome.