As someone who’s lived in Kent most of their life, friends were shocked when I declared I’d never been to Dreamland. All of that was about to change when I saw Busted had been added to their series of Summer Sessions hosted at the vintage-style theme park.
Arriving at the venue there was a palpable sense of excitement for the band who have been a part of fan’s lives since 2002. The open-air section of the amusement park which hosted the stage was set up with fans in mind to ensure you had a good view from pretty much anywhere.
As 9:15pm approached, the lights were dimmed and Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ started blasting from the stage which upped the ante even more. This was closely followed by AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ where I resisted trying to keep up with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders routine whilst in the thick of the crowd.
Making a memorable entrance, Busted launched themselves onto the stage whilst performing their iconic song ‘Air Hostess’. If you thought they were going to ease the crowd in gently, you’re wrong – lyrics were screamed back to them at a deafening decibel. ‘Meet You There’ taken from their second studio album ‘A Present for Everyone’ was the next song we were treated to, despite it being released over 20 years ago, the trio still performed it with passion and relentless energy.
Not ones for shying away from the hits, the boys went on to perform “Loser Kid’ calling out any losers who might be in the audience tonight as well as ‘Sleeping with the Light On’, ‘You Said No’ and ‘MMMBop’, a Hanson cover which saw the whole audiences hands shoot up in the air to sway side to side in unison.
The last quarter of the set saw the energy ramped up to a whole new level as the band powered through hit after hit. ‘What I Go to School For’ was updated slightly for 2024 with Miss Mackenzie getting a few decades added to her age within the lyrics. Matt did admit to the crowd that he’d forgotten some of the words after missing one of Charlie’s cues but it just makes them even more genuine.
Speaking to the crowd again, Matt hyped everyone up by telling them a story about McFly bad-mouthing them on social media. The friendly rivalry between the pop-punk bands saw the crowd scream louder as they pledged their allegiance to the Busted boys.
Closing the show with two massive smash singles ‘Crashed the Wedding’ and of course, ‘Year 3000’, the 6000 strong crowd were in their element, whether they were reliving their youth, or newer fans on their families shoulders.
For some people, this was just a show – but for others it was much more. It was a chance to go back in time to when they were more care-free with less responsibilities. It might have only been for one evening but Charlie, Matt and James did what they do best, they gave the show their all and created a safe space for fans to enjoy and relay every single word back to them.
You can find out more about Dreamland’s upcoming events here.