POP punk band Busted are back and bigger than ever!

Fans turned out in their thousands to see the multi-award winning pop-rock trio headline South Tyneside Festival.

The park which was filled with an impressive 25,000 fans watched the Essex boys play through a back catalogue of hits as well as some of their newer hits.

Following their successful ‘Night Driver’ tour earlier this year Busted are going from strength to strength and with a string of summer shows which have already seen the band play at events such as Bristol Pride, Amps Rocks Festival and a sold-out slot at Glastonbury, it isn’t hard to see why the trio have such a huge following.

The band consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Charlie Simpson, guitarist and pianist James Bourne and Bassist Matt Willis took to the stage at Bents Park much to the delight of the screaming fans who waited out in the sun to see them perform.

The band took fans on a 'Night Drive' to the ‘Year 3000’ to play a back catalogue of hits as well as some of their newer material such as ‘Those Days Are Gone’, ‘On What You’re On’ and ‘Thinking of You’.

The show opened with the familiar guitar riff of ‘Air Hostess’ before ‘Crashed the Wedding’ and ‘3am’ were played, most notably was Charlie Simpson’s scream which sent fans into a cheering frenzy as the song ended.

The crowd who were encouraged to sing, dance and jump throughout the setlist did not let the band down and they obeyed every command, dancing to their every song.

Busted who only reformed back in 2015 after an almost 11 year break showed every enthusiasm, jumping and dancing along with the fans before bass player Matt Willis jumped off stage to join the fans in their closing number ‘Those Days Are Gone’.

While times have changed it is evident that the love for this group certainly hasn’t and is stronger than ever before.

Busted will now go on to play MTV crashed Plymouth, V Festival and Car Fest before heading back into the studio to write their fourth album. If it’s anything like their 2016 comeback album ‘Night Driver’ fans are in for a real treat!

Sarah Smith