This isn't particularly the usual sort of thing I like to blog about on here. If you were to look at the contents tab, this one is going to stand out like a sore thumb I'm sure. When I tagged along to the cinema to see McBusted's tour documentary, I was told that it would be amusing if I was to talk about this on my blog. I disagreed vehemently, not my thing. But then I was offered to have my lunch paid for if I was to write about the documentary, which sort of sweetens the deal. It just goes to show you that even with regular readers probably in single digits, you can still sell out. Also, doing this means I can probably do another anime post soon without oversaturating the whole blog.
I'm not a fan of boy bands, that's not surprising. I've not particularly ever been their target audience, but I admit that some parts of McFly/Busted have warmed up to me over the years that I've been around their influence. I was told how similar I was to Tom Fletcher, and that kind of helps me feel more empathy for him. In fact, a couple of years ago I tagged along to one of McFly's concerts at Wembley Arena, I think it was the Memory Lane tour. It was an ok experience, definitely missing out on some of the fun from the nostalgia of their older hits, but it seemed like so would 70% of the fans, being so young, provided they weren't listening to McFly as toddlers. It was to my understanding that the point of greatest hits tours was for people who'd have been fans throughout to relive those eras of the bands careers.
Anyway, the documentary. I expected the cinema to be filled with pre-teen girls who only cared about Dougie's abs like the concert was, but it was a lot different to that. We sat down a little early as we didn't have anything else we particularly needed to do, and the first people to sit down after us was a middle aged lady with someone I assumed to be her son. As the viewers continued to pour in, a few more girls around 19-20 years old came in, and one group of younger fans with their mum/guardian.
Back when I worked in a cinema, I had the special treat of working around the release of One Direction's tour documentary This Is Us, so I expected Tourplay to be swarmed by the same types of fans, as the fact that Tom Fletcher writes for One Direction and that's the only reason I can see for people as young as 8 caring about a band that's been around for so long now. Thankfully this was a much more pleasant experience.
The actual content of the documentary was more or less what you go in expecting from a tour documentary. Interviews with each band member sprinkled between performances from their shows since the formation of McBusted last year. What stood out for me was that the band was so involved in the production of the tour, there was a lot of design choices made by the band to make sure it felt their own for the union of the two bands together.
In that way also, there were some good moments that showed how much this wasn't a stunt for ticket sales but rather an opportunity for 6 friends to come together and do what they enjoy. That felt good to watch, as I imagine it felt good for them to film.
There are plenty of things I disagree with about McBusted, such as their pricing for tickets and their penchant for saying a show is one-time only and then adding 5 more dates, and that's not really a fault of theirs as much as a fault of the business that they work in. There are plenty of things that I respect about them also, such as their commitment to fans and their chemistry with each other as friends and workmates.
It's not something that's going to be recommended to people like me who have no emotional investments with the band. Likewise, if you do like them, you've probably already seen it, so hopefully you enjoyed it.
