McFly Review: Stockton Globe host its first gig since 1970s

Dave Lawrence was there last night to review McFly.

It's been a while since a band was last on stage at Stockton's Globe Theatre. It was December 1974, and the band, Status Quo, were just entering the top twenty chart with their current single 'Down Down'. Of course, in earlier decades the venue had hosted legendary acts like Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles - the latter famously playing two shows there the night JFK was assassinated.

It's closure in 1997 led to a long period of decay and ruin until refurbishment work started in 2010 to revive the theatre not only to its former art deco glory but to be a venue fit for the demanding audiences of the twenty-first century.

READ MORE: What McFly said about being FIRST to play at Stockon Globe

The result is a state-of-the-art venue - owned and run by the Ambassador Theatre Group, Jomast and Stockton Borough Council - that can handle both fully seated audiences and part standing events with a maximum capacity of 3,000. It is the largest capacity venue for touring artists and bands between Newcastle and Leeds.

A glance at some of the artists booked to appear over the coming months leaves no doubt as to the venue's attraction and includes Nick Cave, Paloma Faith, Jools Holland, Ronan Keating, UB40 and Diversity, as well as a host of top comedians including Jason Manford, John Bishop, Chris Ramsey and Jimmy Carr will all perform there.

The honour of playing the first show Monday evening fell to chart topper's McFly although, whisper it quietly, strictly speaking it was support act Chinchilla that had the honour. There were long queues of eager fans outside when we arrived and the doors opened at 6.45pm and plenty of audience members arrived early to take in the ambience and explore the venue. A tangible buzz of excitement and anticipation was in the air.

For this opening show the venue was configured for standing in the main hall. The sloping floor meant you had a great view of the stage from wherever you were. The layout has been really well planned, and the ventilation was first rate – an important point for many in these uncertain times.

Fans Caroline Davey, Louisa Jones and Sarah Palmer travelled from Redcar to attend the gig and meet up with friends and were excited pre-show. “It’s fantastic having the Globe so close and we’ll be back for sure,” Louisa said. “It’s amazing!”

Anne Thompson from Norton had brought her eleven year old daughter Daisy along for her first concert. “Daisy loves McFly and when it was announced they were playing we knew we had to come,” Anne said. “She’s so excited to see them, and I wanted to see the Globe. It’s really beautiful. They’ve done a lovely job.”

The highly regarded Chinchilla, who supported Sting on his last European dates, performed a short set of genre blending powerpop before McFly took the stage.

Band members Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd wasted no time in settling right in and began in exuberant fashion with the bouncy number one single ‘Star Girl’ followed by ‘Another Song About Love’ – it’s first live performance according to Fletcher.

The group have retained their youthful enthusiasm, dashing around the stage and leaping around energetically much to their fans delight. ‘One For The Radio’ was great fun, and was followed by two more chart topping singles ‘Obviously’ and ‘I’ll Be OK’.

Tom Fletcher, who this autumn is hoping to emulate his band mate Harry Judd in taking the Strictly Come Dancing crown was in fine voice and threw himself around the stage in a manner that would have had the Strictly producer’s hearts in their mouths had they witnessed it.

Bassist Dougie Poynter told the audience how honoured they were to reopen the venue – “It’s bloody lovely, the painters and decorators have done a great job”

Their huge hit ‘All About You’ was a high spot. First, Danny Jones forgot the solo in the middle of the song and was subjected to some light hearted derision from his bandmates. Then, Brooke, a young fan was invited to the stage to help on the vocals and she seemed to have a great time as the band gathered round encouraging her on.

The band also played several tracks off last years ‘Young Dumb Thrills’ album, including ‘Happiness’, ‘Growing Up’, ‘Tonight’s The Night’ and ‘Wild and Young’

After closing with the main set with ‘Heart Never Lies’ the band quickly returned for an encore of ‘Shine A Light’ and ‘5 Colours in Her Hair’ which finished the evening on a high.

While McFly’s performance had been a big success, ultimately, the star of the evening was the Globe itself. The town’s smaller venues like The Georgian Theatre, Ku-Bar and the ARC play an important role in helping showcase new and emerging talent but the region has been crying out for a larger venue capable of attracting more established acts. On Monday’s evidence the Globe looks like being just what we need.

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