Me & Boybands

February 2, 2011

A little reflection…

Ok so, every now and again the inspiration to write a blog entry comes over me. Well a few weeks ago this moment occured while I laid in bed and had an unwanted emotional moment over a boyband - pretty standard occurrence for me really.

Anyway, this got me thinking. How exactly has a 23 year old become mildly infatuated with a group of teenage boys? I personally put it down to my boyband gene. My Mother assures me it was not inherited from her, or my Father (yet he does have obsessive tendencies over football), but it is active and I simply cannot help it. I am naturally drawn to boybands. So then I thought, when did this actually happen? So I thought I would do a little reflection blog, outlining my boyband past. In a way, somehow justifying why liking a boyband is normal in my life.

So, at around 6 years of age (yes, that young) I became a Take That fan. Obviously I was pretty young at this stage, so can’t really remember the exact details of my first obsession, however I do remember having Take That bedding, and more importantly receiving a birthday card and signed video from Jason for my 7th birthday. On 23 August 1995 I went to see them at Earls Court (my first ever concert) and I was hooked, but then in 1996 they split up. Now I didn’t have a nervous breakdown like some, however I was upset. But life went on.

Over the next few years the likes of 911, Boyzone and *Nsync grabbed my eye, but nothing like Take That.

Next up was Westlife. I genuinely hated their first single and thought they were crap, however in the summer of 1999 I went on my first holiday abroad, and accompanying me was my yellow water proof Walkman (coolness!) and the If I Let You Go cassette. I returned to England a Westlife fan. Over the coming years it spiraled. At one stage my room (which is quite a decent size) became covered, floor to ceiling in Westlife posters. I bought every magazine they were in, every CD they released, recorded every TV programme they were on and was even a member of their fanclub! In March 2001 I went to my first Westlife concert at Wembley, then attended Earls Court in May 2002 and Docklands April 2003 before my next boyband obsession swept over me.

For my 17th birthday I asked to go and see Busted. So on 27 March 2004 I made the familiar trip to Wembley and that was it. It just so happened that McFly were their support band. I later discovered that the hotel I stayed in that night was the same as McFly, and that I was blissfully unaware, and kicked myself MASSIVELY when I found out.

I was lucky enough to attend the Busted band aid concert in December 2004 before they announced their split in 2005. In October 2004 I went to McFly’s first headline tour. I also went to one of Busted’s open air concerts in July 2004, that McFly were also supporting. This involved a 5am start, waiting for most of the day at the front of the queue, almost dying in the front row before racing into Southampton and finding their hotel. That night I met Matt for the first time and the need to meet them had been planted - this is where the full boyband life begins.

With McFly, one concert was never enough. In 2004 I attended the same tour three times (Manchester, Portsmouth and London) and also began attending CD:UK as an audience member when I knew McFly would be performing. Online became my tool of discovery and before long I had a group of friends that were all McFly fans. 

Between 2005 and 2008 I attended 12 McFly concerts, countless CD:UK recordings, numerous singings around the country and met them on numerous occasions. For my 18th birthday I received birthday cards from McFly, in 2005 I traveled back up to Manchester for one of the tour dates, stayed at the same hotel as them and attended their after show party, and generally had an amazing time, however it was a bloody expensive hobby.

Oh there was also V, who supported Busted back in 2004. They were a lovely group of lads, however it was more convenience for me as they inveribly did the same things as McFly, however the McFly and V performance of Chills in the Evening from CD:UK still gives me goose bumps! <3

Now, while all of this was going on Son of Dork came onto the scene. I had a friend who was a massive fan of James Bourne, so when she heard about him setting up a new band she was all over it. She set up their first website, and spoke to James frequently at CD:UK. Before long he knew who she was and what she was doing to support his new band. Her website went from strength to strength and I was somehow launched into the world of PR because of it. I basically did the PR for the website, and managed to arrange an exclusive interview with the band during a rehearsal session, free tickets to the Smash Hits awards, special access to their video shoot and press access to a radio gig they did in Oxford. On top of this we also did the regular thing to CD:UK and even headed to Kent when they did Ministry of Mayhem. Oh and I also attended Steve’s 18th Birthday party as James invited me.

So yeah, I forget when Son of Dork ‘officially’ disbanded but my 2007 I had begun University and my boyband days were pretty much behind me. I’ve been to the odd concert, and made an effort to see McFly when they did a radio tour in the area, but until now my boyband activities/interest have been dormant, until One Direction that is.

With One Direction it’s different. I’m quite enjoying liking them from a distance. Now, this could be because I don’t have the drive (and money) within me like I had with McFly, or the fact that they are babies and I would feel soooo old at anything One Direction related - I know this for a fact, as last year I saw McFly at a local radio station and felt like a granny. When did everyone get so young? The only element of comfort with McFly is they are my age…One Direction aren’t. I also, one day hope to enter the world of music/entertainment PR so this will always influence any One Direction urges I have. Lord knows what I’d do with myself if I discovered they were coming to Bournemouth for some reason…I would definitely be torn!

Anyhow, I am a boyband fan, always have been, and always will be. At times I feel a little ashamed of all of the above, however I think I need to embrace it, and cherish the moments that the above bands provided me with and the lovely people I met along the way.