Celebrating two decades since their inception, Busted unleashed a night of unadulterated raw energy at The O2 Arena on September 27, treating old and new fans to an incredibly sentimental performance. 

When it was time for the band to hit the stage, a video intro from Christopher Lloyd as Doctor Emmett Brown (Back To The Future) announced their arrival, and the cheers that followed threatened to bring the roof down. The opening notes of “Air Hostess” ignited the entire room, with the audience on their feet, singing and dancing along. It was the quintessential Busted experience; if we hadn’t known better, it was like we were back in 2004, and it was the Millenium Dome. 

The hour-and-a-half set was an onslaught of all the hits, from “Loser Kid,” which was one of the first tracks the band released, through to “Thunderbirds Are Go” from the UK-only version of 2004’s Thunderbirds movie (it was a box office bomb, so don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it.) Nostalgia was all the rage during Busted’s show, with the screens at the back of the stage showing ancient relics such as Nokia phones and archive footage of the band during their early 00s heyday. 

Other highlights included their new version of Hanson’s “MMMBop,” which saw the American trio come on stage to join them for the rendition. Next was “Sleeping With The Light On,” where Hanson remained on stage to perform with Busted, and both were also joined by Capital Breakfast’s Chris Stark in his first live musical performance.

The set featured very little material from the band’s more contemporary releases, as expected since the tour was celebrating the band’s 20th anniversary. However, during the set, Matt Willis announced that Busted would be releasing new music soon, which was met with the most deafening cheers. 

Another announcement met with enthusiasm was when Willis announced that the tour was officially the biggest (and, therefore, most-sold) arena tour of 2023. For three guys who some have said are “middle-aged has-beens,” that’s not bad, is it? 

“Crashed The Wedding” brought the main set to a close, sending fans into a frenzy. After the usual demands from the crowd for an encore, Busted returned to the stage, with footage of their Brit Awards win playing behind them, and launched into a cover of The Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks,” a song labeled by the hit TV show Derry Girls as Northern Ireland’s “national anthem.”

Busted’s final offering, which should be no surprise, was their most seminal work—“Year 3000.” The energetic song had the crowd raucous and was the perfect finish to the 20th-anniversary celebrations, proving that the band have still got it. 

Photos by Bonnie Britain. View the full gallery here.