By Angus White
2016 has been one hell of a year for the The 1975. They released their second album I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it in February, which reached #1 in US and UK among many other countries.
They have performed at some of the UKs finest festivals in summer and delivered an award-winning live lounge set with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in September to celebrate the success of their second album. The 1975 won NME’s Album of Year 2016 and featured in Times’ Top Albums of 2016 at #9.
In June 2016, they announced they will be touring performing at the UKs biggest arenas including a two-day residency at the O2 Arena, London. 16th December 2016 at the O2 Arena, sold out in 3 hours!
After the atmosphere had been built up by the support, The Japanese House. A low hum rang around the arena which slowly died out with the lights coming on for their song, ‘The 1975’ to start playing and the purple neon backdrop to flicker. Once The 1975 had ended the backdrop switched off and Matty Healy announced his bands arrival, ‘Please welcome my favourite band, The 1975’. Healy strutted around the stage with a glass of red wine cradled in his hands, in front of a 20,000 strong crowd in a crumpled suit and an oversized, floppy cravat.
The 1975 performed a brand new list and showcased the expanded visual display which included songs off their debut, such as ‘Heart Out’, ‘Robbers’ and ‘Chocolate’ and a selection of songs from ‘I like it when..’, ‘Love Me’, ‘The Sound’ and ‘Somebody Else’.
They also included instrumentals from ‘I like it when’ into their setlist, Please Be Naked and I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, which seemed risky but seemed to work so well .
The Wilmslow four-piece also performed songs from EPs, for example, ‘Undo’, ‘Milk’ and ‘Medicine’. The 1975 have created a classy state-of-the-art arena show with an 80s pop/rock vibe.
For me, the best songs of the night were; Love Me (with the flawless transition from The 1975), Medicine (in which the city by sunset backdrop and the crowd filled by mobile phone torches. It was magical), If I Believe You (with the Saxophone solo and Healy as a silhouette praying) and finally ‘I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it’ (in which Healy, Macdonald and Hann were all hunched over keyboards).
Despite performing in such a large venue Healy somehow managed to stay in touch with each member of the crowd, ‘Let’s just sing songs together’. The frontman took time to address the current political situation; when a fan screamed ‘F*ck Donald Trump’, Healy replied ‘That’s kinda not the rhetoric that is needed‘ and showed the youthful crowd empathy, ‘I know it’s very sad to see all of these young voices of progression and change being drowned out by regressive ideals and bullsh*t’. Before expressing his love for the crowd, ‘You are our people and we love you so f*cking much… This song’s about loving someone.’
Cuing Loving Someone and a rainbow themed backdrop. Later, he then went on to ask the crowd to put their phones and cameras away to actually be ‘engaged’ with him and experience and live in that moment with everyone in the arena. He then launched into Fallingforyou, during which a couple got engaged and again Healy took time to go congratulate them.
The expectations after having a platinum selling debut album are immense and The 1975 seemed to have gone about it the right way. Their second album is unforgettable, with each track a different tone and link to the bands past. This album smashed all expectations and gave way to the heroic rise of The 1975. Renowned for their flamboyance and energy on stage leads to the crowd being in awe of the band. Friday was no different. It was simply out of this earth, the atmosphere was electric. The night finished with a double blow of ‘Chocolate’ followed by ‘The Sound’, in the intro, Healy thanked the crowd and said ‘We’ve only just f*cking started… We will see you next year.’
The 1975, a band who have brought together a divided society, taken the concept of being an outsider and championing it and have become the voice of the disenfranchised youth. . They have created an album which any listener can relate to and have become a worldwide phenomenon. Healy and his band have created the pop/rock anthems of this day.
2016. A year never to be forgotten by The 1975 fans. This tour was just the victory lap , the cherry on top and the perfect end to a perfect year.
