Two matters weighed on the minds of the crowd at McFly's first British show this year. For the screaming, bouncing, fainting fans at the front - half a dozen had to be carried out before the gig had even begun - it was how cute the guitar-toting three-quarters of the group looked close up. For the more sedentary industry folk, seated in the much more reserved balcony, it was whether McFly are about to commit career suicide or turn themselves into Britain's most-talked- about band.

Last year, after disappointing sales of their third album and a Best Of collection released against their will, McFly left their record company and set up their own, self-funded label. In a fortnight their fourth album, Radio:ACTIVE, will be given away free. The idea, presumably, is to broaden their fanbase. Radio:ACTIVE is a tougher, rockier, less cleanly produced record than its predecessors and, free, it should at least land in the hands of adults who would never have considered paying for it. This special show was to introduce the new songs - another, on July 24, will be broadcast live to cinema screens across the country - and began with the album's boisterous first single, One for the Radio, which recalled very early Travis.

Underwear was thrown on stage before Everybody Knows, a noisy number with rather risqué lyrics that blatantly borrowed from Kiss's Crazy, Crazy Nights. By POV, an inventive ballad with keyboard breaks and churning guitars, the adults looked almost as impressed as the screaming teens. McFly just looked knackered.

“We're not tour fit,” explained a sweat-soaked Tom Fletcher, who shares vocals and songwriting duties with Danny Jones, who was so wiped out that he practically staggered to the back to gulp down water. After another new song, the insanely-speedy Going Through the Motions, Jones collapsed, exhausted, flat out on the floor.

Still all in their early twenties, McFly have already enjoyed an astonishingly successful career - a handful of old hits slipped into the set felt like pop classics. But, as the new songs got better, you wondered why on earth they are giving them away.

The highlight, Do Ya?, described by Fletcher as “like All About You, after drinking 20 Red Bulls”, was actually closer to Slade playing Abba with a dash of Freddie Mercury thrown in for good measure. With songs that are this fun, adults would surely have caved in and paid.

Further dates: July 24, Koko, London NW1; Aug 16, Belvoir Castle; Aug 23, Lincoln Castle

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010