Rockers get up close and personal

From the archive, first published Saturday 9th Dec 2006.

Scores of youngsters were expected to be queuing around the block today at St George's Hall as tickets went on sale for pop rockers McFly.

The chart-topping band - currently the hottest teen act in the country - will play in Bradford next spring.

The concert kicks off a 24-date UK tour aimed at reaching smaller venues where McFly don't normally play. It follows the band's hit arena tour this year.

A spokesman for the band said: "The Up Close and Personal tour covers the four corners of the UK where the arena tours don't reach.

"Tom, Danny, Harry and Dougie want to give their fans in these towns a chance to see them up close and personal. St George's Hall is the first date on the tour."

McFly is to today's pop scene what Take That were 15 years ago.

Posters of the boys adorn youngsters' bedroom walls and they are met with hysterical crowds of young schoolgirls wherever they go. The teen stars - Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Harry Judd and Dougie Poynter - took the British pop scene by storm in 2004 with Number 1 single Five Colours in Her Hair.

The boys have had ten Top 10 singles, six of which reached Number 1, and two Number 1 albums, Room on the Third Floor and Wonderland.

Last year they teamed up with legendary rockers The Who for a new version of 1965 hit My Generation. The veteran band re-recorded the song with the teen stars to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The band's new double A-side single, Sorry's Not Good Enough/Friday Night, is released on Monday, Decem-ber 18. Both tracks are taken from the band's gold album, Motion in the Ocean.

McFly's only previous appearance in the Bradford district was at Bingley's Party in the Park in September. The band headlined the festival, and other acts included Blazin' Squad, Sandi Thom and Bradford singer Tasmin Archer.

McFly are at St George's Hall on Tuesday, March 20. Tickets go on sale today at 11am and are limited to four per person. Tickets are available at St George's Hall box office or on (01274) 432000, not through Bradford Theatres' website.

e-mail: emma.clayton @bradford.newsquest.co.uk