Mcfly, are of course, well used to playing huge concert venues but on their 24-date tour they've decided to get 'up close and personal' with their fans for a set of intermate gigs in towns and cities
"We just wanted to do a different kind of tour," explains drummer harry judd
"When we released our last single last year we did loads of singing and noticed a real excitement.
"It reminded us of how many awesome fans we had so we decided to come to different places and do some shows to people who may not have had the chance to see us perform live before."
Harry adds that the band are aware that if you only do arenas and big conferences centres you come get more and more divorced from fans and they don't want that to happen.
"These days with the internet and MySpace, you can really see the genuine passion of fans. It's great to be able to recognise that and go out and meet these people. All these big arenas, we go to the same cities every time, so it's good to go to other places and get up close and personal with our fans."
The internet has obviously made the music scene very different, even from what it was when Harry and the rest of the boys were growing up and starting to play music, Through MySpace and the blogging sites, the bands and the fans can "talks" directly to each other.
"When I was younger I was really into bands but the stars were more mysterious then so I think it is good that people have so much more access to us.
"I would probably have been on MySpace and the blogs myself. It's cool, and it gets you into music. When I was 14 and really starting to get into music, I just bought CDs of all my favourite bands and all I did with my mates was go and jam and make music and talk about albums."
Mcfly were meant to be releasing their new single, Baby's coming back, to tie with the up close and personal tour, but this has been delayed at their request because of their various commitments to other things, including Comic Relief.
"We postponed the release until after the tour. We felt like, well we've been to Africa just recently and We've been doing all sorts of things and felt we really didn't have enough time to properly promote it so we thought that the best opportunity for people to hear it is on tour.
"The majority of the fans who go to the tour dates will no the song but it's a good chance for them to hear it live first and get into it even more. That's the plan.
"We went out to Uganda to do a film piece for Red Nose Day and have been on a few school tours, talking about our trip across to Uganda and getting the message across to people in schools how they can help. That's been good fun.
"In my opinion, you can't do enough charity work. I know there are a lot of cynics out there who think that some charities don't work and that the pop groups shouldn't be involved, but we have been in the fortunate position where from a young age we're visited lots of hospitals in the UK and been to Africa and I've been out to India We've got a real passion for it." Harry Judd's visit to India was with a sports Relief Cricket team, the red socks, alongside the likes of Nick Hancock, Chris Evans, Patrick Kielty, Nick Knowles, Dermot O'Leary, Jack Russell, Jay Sean, Phil Tufnell and Rosalie Birch.
In fact, Harry's a cricket fanatic. He picked up a cricket bat when he was four, He played at school (He went to the independent boarding school Uppingham school alongside Charlie Simpson of Busted), attended the MCC school of merit and went on to play at junior level county level. He got close to playing for England at junior levels but choose to become a drummer instead.
For him, the up close and personal tour come not have come at a worse time, because he's trying to balance the heavy schedule of a 24-date tour with his desire to watch the cricket world cup in the west Indies. It certainly means that on this tour he isn't going out to clubs and parties when they come off stage.
"Cricket will be prioritised over going out to clubs after the gigs. I could be extremely tired during this tour because I really want to follow every match."
Although this tour is more low key than they are used to and without the huge teams of lighting and sound technicians, it's so intensive that they are not likely to get home very often. Therefore, Harry is having to make do with watching the cricket when he is at hotels.
Home, he says, seems a long way off, but going from venue to venue, hotel to hotel, is what touring is all about.
"Of course, by the end of the tour we are quite excited to be going home and I think sometimes half way thorough a tour when we are near London we will go home, but it is generally easier if we stay in hotels.
"I think you tour more seriously if you are away all the time. When you are properly focused, trying to do a great performance every night.
"It's great fun. It's great that we are doing a different kind of tour, It's not that were bored of doing arenas or anything, it is just that there is a different dynamic."
The idea that such a well-established band has done only two extended arena tours may seem surprising until you remember that their first hit, 5 colours in her hair, only came out in 2004. It is just that they seem to have been at the top for a long time.
"Yes, we're probably getting on people's nerves now, Of course, we've only known each other for four or five years and been in the public eye for only three years we are still very young, we're just 21.
"We'll carry on for as long as possible but I don't want to be one of those guys who has been in a really successful band and when it splits up they go solo but nobody really cares and ends up doing all that celebrity bowling or whatever.
"I reckon I'd slip back into normal life quite easily, but hopefully it won't come to that, not for a long time at least"
Источник: http://mcflyofficial.com |
