Truly Mc-nificent mature young men

Everyone's favourite boy band McFly has grown up – and boy are they making sure we know it.

The pop-rock fledglings have flown their record company nest to go it alone with their own self-financed label. The result is Radio:ACTIVE – the title of their first independent album and the nationwide tour.

Click here to see more pictures from the gig.

The boys, sorry young men, faced a huge challenge making their presence felt last night. The vacuous LG Arena filled with a Mcflurry of screaming girls (relentlessly screaming and hideously high pitched girls), a large, creative stage set and massive bank of lights were a lot to contend with.

But from the moment the band exploded onto stage in a shower of pyrotechnics they filled every crevice of the arena, commanding full, undivided attention.

The band had literally flown up from London having performed their charity single Do Ya on BBC's Children in Need last night. They hit the ground running and raced to the NEC, taking to the stage at 9.20pm. If they were suffering fatigue there was no sign of it last night in this highly energetic set. Tom Fletcher dismissing the geographical feat as simply 'good fun'.

And if the largely school-age fans were tired of waiting they also showed no sign of it, voicing their admiration throughout.

McFly began with One for the Radio, the hit single off their new, beefed up, album, followed by a string of other tracks including Everybody Knows, Corrupted, Going Through the Motions, The Heart Never Lies. The first half of the set was given over almost entirely to the new album, although this certainly did not dampen the enthusiasm of the word-perfect crowd.

The new tracks do reveal a more mature McFly. There are earthy guitar riffs, more bass and just a heavier, more anthemic feel.

A jaw-dropping highlight of the gig was when the stage did actually move for the crowd. The boys jumped aboard a suspended stage – playing old hit Star Girl – which travelled over the heads of the fans before settling down by the mixing desk, sparking euphoria amongst the crowd.

In the middle of the arena, the boys then played That Girl and Do Ya , with a message from Danny Jones promoting the Children in Need fundraising, before racing through the excited crowd to the main stage.

There was an interesting cover of Michael Jackson's Black or White. Then two more new songs – The Last Song and single Lies – before finishing with 5 colours in her hair.

The tired young crowd retired before 11pm, but left on such a high that sleep would be far from their minds for quite some time! A truly Mc-nificent night.

By Diane Davies