11 Things That Could Happen On Busted's Half Way There Tour

Charlie, Matt and James have promised a show that's 'for the fans' - but what does that mean? The tour kicks off in Glasgow this Saturday.

1. Charlie arrives in a DeLorean

JMortonPhoto.com & OtoGodfrey.com / Via commons.wikimedia.org

James and Matt arrived by DeLorean on the first McBusted tour and it was such a perfect moment. This time Charlie could do the whole Back To The Future thing, in reference to the fact that their recently released fourth album Half Way There is spiritually their third album (they've gone back to the old Busted sound that they know their fanbase loves) and we're basically in an alternate timeline now where Busted never even broke up but just got a tiny bit rockier.

How likely?

Well, it's complicated. Charlie said in one interview that this would be a 'barebones rock show'... and in another that it'll be 'really elaborate'. We'll probably get pyros either way, but odds on a DeLorean again are pretty slim. 3/10

2. Loads and loads of synchronised jumping

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Busted are getting old. Trust me, as someone also in their 30s, jumping around at this age makes you feel like all your insides are getting flung about and it's blimmin' tiring. However, if there's one thing Busted will have been practising 'for the fans', it is surely this.

How likely?

Yep. Almost a dead cert. 9/10

3. They play loads of deep cuts

Rhys Adams / Via Flickr: rhysadams

Some of Busted's best material is buried on their albums. Meet You There and Why both got an outing on their last arena tour, so it seems likely they might sit this one out... But fans have been pretty desperate for She Wants To Be Me and Britney.

How likely?
Based on the Dubai warm-up show setlist, you can probably put safe money on Britney and She Wants To Be Me. Fingers crossed they remember some of their less silly album tracks too... 6/10

4. Busted forget Night Driver exists

Busted

Their third album Night Driver can probably expect minimal representation in the show. On What You're On seems likely... but it'd be a real treat if they gave us just a couple of the album's lesser known gems instead. New York, Without It, I Will Break Your Heart... go on guys, please? Also, for this segment, the band should have a costume change as a visual reference to how outrageously different these songs are to the others in the setlist. Spangly jackets, just briefly, please.

How likely?
They won't forget Night Driver, but they'll probably forget its best tunes... 5/10

5. A medley of their solo songs

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Each member of Busted has made music outside of the band, and they've all done good stuff. There could be a cracking wee medley of Beautiful Girls Are The Loneliest (yes, this was on the McBusted album but it was James' own baby first), Don't Let It Go To Waste and Parachutes.

How likely?
Charlie wouldn't want to blur the very definite lines between his other projects and Busted. Matt probably assumes everyone's forgotten his... in fact, he might have forgotten it himself. James wouldn't want to be reminded about the painful years when Busted didn't exist. 0/10

6. James picks a fight with the audience over Michael Jackson

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He's made his views clear on Twitter, but as it's a wee bit of a hot potato there's a good chance management have suggested to James that mentioning Jacko would be a bad idea. Some brave soul may have even raised the possibility of removing references to him from Year 3000 and Nineties, but there's no way James would stand for that.

How likely?
It's such an obvious bad PR move to bring it up, so James will probably resist. Maybe. 4/10

7. Support band The Xcerts are accepted by the Busted fanbase as the wonderful gift that they are

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Big choruses, great hooks, some liberally sprinkled 'woo!'s... The Xcerts have some total jams that will be perfect for these arenas. They're used to touring with heavier bands (y'know, like Fightstar) in smaller venues, but their aptitude for handling festival crowds will serve them well. They've got a load of anthems-in-waiting ready to unleash, but I'm most excited for Show Me Beautiful (so they better blimmin' play it).

How likely?
They're really good. So probably. 9/10

8. James wears full length trousers

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Busted are a delicate, fragile and beautiful thing. Charlie has already left once because he was embarrassed of the band's reputation. It's unclear if this had anything to do with any of his band mates' questionable fashion choices, but as a precaution I think it's safest if James hangs up the shorts.

How likely?
Actually, James seems to have been wearing full-length trousers for the vast majority of the reunion so far. Maybe it was part of the deal. 8/10

9. Air Hostess and Shipwrecked In Atlantis get played back-to-back and it's a thing

Atlantis The Palm / Via commons.wikimedia.org

Apparently these two songs are related, so it would be fitting to play them together with some sort of elaborate combined theming. Apparently the 'Atlantis' referenced is some sort of mega resort in Dubai. I wouldn't know. I'm not a wealthy popstar. We're guessing the idea is that the plane from Air Hostess crashes in the sea and they wash up at the resort?

How likely?
They didn't play them back-to-back in Dubai, but we're not expecting the setlist to be identical so... 5/10

10. Part of the show involves a decoy band member

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At Twenty One Pilots' Bandito tour, there was a song where a balaclava-wearing Tyler was on stage singing, then disappeared down a hole and instantly appeared in the cheap seats at the top of the arena where he pulled off his headgear, revealing that the one on stage had been a decoy! It was wild.

How likely?
The only decoy in Busted is the extremely convincing fake Charlie they rustled up to make their comeback possible. Who knows where the real one is – he's probably been tied up in a basement somewhere for the past five years. Sorry Fightstar fans... 2/10

11. Everyone has a totally amazing time

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Great supports, probably 20+ Busted songs with all the hits, probably/maybe some sort of cool staging and pyros 'n' stuff, Matt having the best time ever while James and Charlie surprisingly don't look like they want to kill each other for temporarily ruining each other's lives that one time... It's going to be awesome.

How likely?
I've got a good feeling about this... 9/10