The 1975, Liverpool
Review Date: February 26 2020
Format: Concert
Genre: Electro-Pop, Indie Pop/Rock & Alternative Rock
Performance: February 26 2020
Location: M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
Performers: Matty Healy, Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald & George Daniel
Age Rating: Under 14s Must Be Accompanied By An Adult
Duration: 200 mins incl. support act
Expect a fantastically quirky, vivid performance of raw, poetic lyrics from The 1975 at the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool.
Description
The band’s support act, Beabadoobee, kicked off the concert with a loud and punchy, rocky sound. The audience seemed to love her – the atmosphere was already charged with excitement for The 1975 – but Beabadoobee managed to build up this energy even more. Characterised by predominantly drums and bass, her music was a both robust and spunky with chilled moments; even slightly haunting at times. She had a beautifully whimsical vocal which softened the overall sound.
The 1975 opened with their most intensely rocky, arguably screamo-style song People with the lyrics “wake up, wake up, wake up”, which surely enlivened the already crazily-enthused fans. Front man and lead vocalist Matty Healy took off his top nearing the end of the first song and swapped it for a blazer; paired with red high-top Converse and loose trousers, the open blazer completed his quirky-casual look. The crowd were hyped right from the beginning up until the very last note. This well-loved band with fans of all ages and styles played a variety of old and new tunes. These included their latest singles The Birthday Party and Me & You Together Song and other recent singles like Frail State Of Mind, Somebody Else. There was a moment nearing the end of the concert where they created a reflective time and asked for there to be no screaming as they played out a recorded track about the issue of Climate Change. The band ended on one of their most catchy, party tunes The Sound. Favourites from their last album had their fans going crazy, playing TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME, Sincerity Is Scary, Its Not Living (If It’s Not With You), and Give Yourself A Try. Classics like Chocolate were extremely well-received and every single word was sang with such enthusiasm.
People were on the shoulders of their friends to get a better view of the band and were giving it their all, arms high in the air, fully immersing themselves into the synth, electro meets alternative, indie rock sound unique to The 1975.
Analysis
The 1975 are an undeniably musically-gifted band and they put on an incredible show. The audience were beyond lively! Their front man, Matty Healy, is clearly a natural performer without any of the common on-stage clichés. He seemed to just be acting himself- carefree floppy dancing, tongue sticking-out, zoned into the music along with the crowd. There was clear emotional connection to their music in the arena and the controversial but honest lyrics gives their music a personal feel, as though you are entering the mind of the writer. Their lyrics are unlike those of other artists in that they seem to reflect uncensored thoughts. They don’t always fit with logical ideas, almost nonsensical and at times contradictory, offering a deeply though-provoking message.
Their music covers many genres with synth and electro sounds, to heavy drums and bass, to stripped-back acoustic feel. They also use glitch-like and buzzing effects to give their music a kind of mechanical sound. Even the saxophone and banjo featured in their set, adding appealing touches of jazz and country to their music. They are definitely diverse in style with the lead, Healy, expressing sometimes whimsy sometimes aggressive vocals which naturally creates an unpredictability to their music. Their melodies are so catchy and it would be hard to not sing and dance along to their big hits like Chocolate and The Sound. His vocal was gorgeous, particularly in their stunningly moving performance of I Couldn’t Be More In Love against a warm orange, pink and purple smoky hue.
The concert began with flashes of white light breaking the pitch black arena as the voice sang and bold lyrics flashed on the screen to match. The staging was very original with large rectangle outlines almost framing the band, lighting up in bright yellow as they became visible on the stage. The shapes moved throughout and three boxes appeared above them, all changing to different brightly coloured designs, lowered and tilted at different points throughout the concert creating a modern, geometric feel. At one point the back screen appeared to gradually sink into itself creating a rectangular hole (reflecting the band’s album logos) in which Healy climbed into and played guitar from inside. There was a strip of moving floor across the front of the stage where Healy stepped forward to perform on for certain songs, sliding from one side of the stage to the other, looking out, dancing and engaging with fans.
After a rather sweet song was performed about friendship and the band’s relationship with home-video style footage shown on the screens, Healy told the audience “look after your friends, guys, it’s important”, which felt extremely poignant and heartfelt. They seem passionate about issues in society and their music reflects that concern and frustration for the mess of the world.
The 1975, Liverpool – Summary
Their peculiarity is their charm. With their brilliant music and offbeat, fresh style, The 1975 sparked an atmosphere so dynamic it felt like the Liverpool arena couldn’t be more alive!
Notes:
Target Audience: Teens And Above
Content: Frequent Strong Language, Adult Themes
Recommendation?: Yes
Overall Rating: 9.5/10 – Classic
Further Details
For more information about The 1975, click here.
