McFly

Dome Concert Hall, Brighton

THESE toy Beatles may only know three chords but they can entertain.

I've never heard a crowd scream so loudly and I've been at a children's Christmas party where Santa Claus failed to turn up.

The "real" music world may not take these cherub-faced boys seriously and they certainly are not NME material.

But they can play their guitars decently and, to put it bluntly, play children's rock music pretty well.

Full of the catchy sort of tunes which local radio stations were made for, McFly cheeked and smirked their way through the gig in that boyish kind of spikey-haired style first invented by Busted five years ago.

Energetic McFly, who got their name from Michael J Fox's character in the Eighties film, Back To The Future, are the modern equivalent and have set about creating a series of albums which have gained a similarly massive audience.

Tickets for this gig sold out within 20 minutes and were still exchanging hands on eBay for up to £100 a pair just hours before.

They tore through a long set, which included favourites Room on the Third Floor, Too Close for Comfort and All About You.

Tom Fletcher leapt on to the piano for a couple, including a duet with Danny Jones.

There was little different here from the short gig McFly played at the Radio 1 Roadshow in the same venue late last year. But they did unveil new single Baby's Coming Back, released next week.

In the end this was a hugely entertaining romp ending with the classic Five Colours in Her Hair.

Danny dropped his trousers, Dougie caught a bra and Tom threw his sweaty towel into the audience before they all dashed out to more deafening screaming.

With an arena tour planned for later this year and seemingly few competitors vying for McFly's childish pop punk crown, the boys' careers appear to be moving faster than a DeLorean in overdrive.

Only a subtle change in that notoriously pop fickle fan base could ruin things.