Brixton Academy, 08/03/2016.
Needless to say, I was pretty hyped up for this gig. Having listened to The 1975 since the time of their EPs, I was finally getting a chance to see them live. And I wasn’t disappointed.
It wasn’t even like I paid a huge amount of money for the tickets. It was refreshing to find a popular band charging under £30 and, as a destitute uni student, I was shit-your-pants-excited.
The show itself was a seamless and slightly unusual extravaganza. The set, consisting of four rectangular towers and a background, changed from scenes such as white noise to city scapes, matching the urban, yet atmospheric, music of The 1975.
Matty Healy himself is an excellent frontman, in my opinion. He really seems to be in the moment of the music, dancing about the stage, sure of himself and his somewhat androgynous look and moves. He didn’t stand there for a good five minutes preaching to the audience, which in the past has often got on my wick at gigs, mostly ones for American bands. Matty did actually give a little speech about wanting the crowd to put their phones away for a song, and as he wandered about the stage, seemingly lost in the music (and lost in his glass of red wine), I had the impression that the band were really there for the music they had created and the fans they’d made, not the celebrity status.
I was also glad that I’d packed all my belongings into the cloakroom. Without a phone to keep an eye on (something I’ve previously had stolen at a gig); without a bag to wrench at when it gets trapped between the mass of bodies; without a sweaty jacket to look after; I found myself having a great appreciation for the four men on the stage before me. It was a sincere display, and one that I will not forget for a while.
wordsandotherbeasts.wordpress.com 