The 1975 are met with deafening screams from the eager audience as they open their set with recent single ‘Love Me.’
The first thing that really grabs my attention about tonight’s show is the highly thought out production, as the band are surrounded in a bright pink hue, which changes into an even more impressive background of a 3D-esque cityscape for ‘UGH!.’
The lights continue to change to accompany each of The 1975’s songs perfectly with some even matching each beat flawlessly.
The crowd go wild as frontman Matt Healy treats them to the first track on tonight’s set from first album, Heart Out, however during the older ‘So Far (It’s All Right)’ Healy’s vocals begin to lapse, and it takes four tracks for him to truly grip my attention again during personal favourite ‘Menswear’.
Aside from the excellent production, the other thing catches my attention is the ridiculous amount of phones in the air; fair enough this has become a norm these days, but I’ve never witnessed it to this extent – a sea of Snapchat, Instagram and even the faces of those in the audience’s pals via FaceTime.
At one point Healy actually takes notice of this stating that “if their friends wanted to see the show they should have bought tickets” and asking the audience to live in the moment and keep their phones away – this is short lived.
Having not actually listened to the band’s most recent album in full this is my first time hearing a lot of these tracks and sadly they come off as quite samey with the crowd’s enthusiasm deteriorating during.
Tonight’s highlights are delivered during the band’s encore as classic ‘Chocolate’ is met with roaring cheers and recent ‘The Sound’ sees the whole crowd jump in the air and lose control on Healy’s command.
Despite the occasional low points The 1975’s production, stage presence and loyal fans create an overall enjoyable show, which validates how the band managed to sell out four nights in a row at such a large venue.
Words: Jess Lavin
Photos: Cameron Brisbane
