McFly rock the river on night two of Henley Festival

POP rock band McFly rattled through their hits with jovial energy at the Henley Festival last night (Thursday).

The band, who helped define noughties with their guitars and spikey blonde hair, brought back boyband nostalgia to a crowd already on their feet following a warm-up song, Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi.

The four-piece, comprising Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter, Harry Judd and Tom Fletcher, arrived on the “floating stage” dressed in T-shirts, jeans and sunglasses, opening with their 2023 hit Where Did All the Guitars Go? led by Fletcher’s heavy guitar riff.

Going against the tide, Poynter, 37, wore dungarees and Vans trainers as he jumping up and down encouraging the crowd to sing along to their 2008 hit One for the Radio  alongside Fletcher, who requested the audience to raise their hands.

Spectators, some of whom had moored their paddle boards adjacent to the stage to watch, screamed loudly upon hearing the opening chords of Obviously and danced all the way through to their best known hits including All About You and Everybody Knows.

Jones, 39, adapted the verse to Obviously from “Get on a plane now” to “Get on a boat” as he jived at the grandeur of the festival on the river. He said to the crowd: “Thank you so much for having us. It is so wonderful to be in your presence. This is the best gig here on the Thames.”

The crowd went into a frenzy as the band then surprised them with their own version of Livin’ on a Prayer about halfway through their set, with revellers on the lawn dancing with each other and echoing the chorus.

One family of boaters, who had moored up to listen to the act, stood on the deck of their boat and dressed themselves in fairy lights as they sang along with the crowd.

Jones asked the crowd to break down the middle, as they sang I’ll Be OK released in 2005, encouraging each side to sing a different verse as they performed but some guests were puzzled as they struggled to hear the lyrics being sung.

Fletcher went on to tell the audience they were dressed like they would “survive the titanic”, being the only black-tie festival in the UK.

The weather remained warm and sunny as the night drew in and the band performed their encore of Five Colours in her Hair which was their first UK number one single after Honey I’m Home.

After watching the festival’s riverside fireworks display, festival-goers flocked to the Pure Heaven tent to for the late-night entertainment Ellie Sax, a prominent dance music saxophonist.

Meanwhile, indie singer-songwriter Jonny Morgan performed on the Rise emerging talent stage, performing songs from his 2023 break up album Good Luck with the Music.

Tonight (Friday) the headline act is Rick Astley.

A full report and pictures from the festival will appear in next week’s Henley Standard.

Picture by Kathryn Fell