Busted At The Olympia Theatre – Review

Having been in attendance at the Dublin leg of Busted’s ‘Pigs Can Fly’ tour, I was intrigued to see what the trio would offer, provided they were performing at a smaller venue than last time. Naturally, a show at the Olympia will always entail reduced productions but will offer a far more intimate feeling for die-hard fans. In saying that, the energy was even most relentless this time – there were curious moments of tension during their performance at the 3Arena. The band reforming last year had some question marks over it, was it more of a homage to the band than a tour? At times they had come across unusually stilted and tense to be on stage once again. However, with their new album Night Driver firmly under their belt with its own string of hits in toe, this performance was far more robust – there was a confident swagger that they had so much more than early noughties throwbacks to offer their fans, they had experiences and songs that reflected their development as both a band and as solo artists.

The more intimate stage suited them infinitely better than the overwhelming vastness of the 3Arena had, hindsight has clearly played a massive part in all elements of this tour. The set list has been carefully adjusted and it meant that both new and old song were more skilfully wound around each other to compliment each other far better. It felt less jarring when new music was played and more fulfilled playlist, their set started with ‘Kids With Computers’ before progressing into the classics like ‘Sleeping with the Light on’ and ‘Air Hostess’. As they move onto their Night Driver tracks like ‘On What You’re On’ and ‘New York’ they definitely come into their own moreso as performers. Their unique vocals really shine through as there’s a very calm, collected vibe as they perform – they’ve come a long way from being the soundtrack to many a tween party playlist in the early noughties.

Their talent is undeniable, they’ve certainly adapted their sound to better fit the more techno-style of 2016/2017 but really the show is a hard-core nostalgia-fest for fans. Nothing can describe how alive the venue became as they performed ‘Year 3000’, the head-banging, the jumping, the air guitar, is unashamed and relentless. It’s so much more than the nostalgia trip was on their last venture in Dublin and, admittedly that will probably always be at any show involving Busted, but this performance is far more polished and structured – it’s a testament to the band adapting to the times and evolving with them.