Manchester lads The 1975, are a youthful and entertaining pop band currently performing sold out shows across the United States on their first tour here. Their music is an energetic blend of rock that is at times atmospheric, at times R&B influenced and has similarities to Arctic Monkeys, Maroon 5 and Fall Out Boy. Catchy hooks helped them top the charts in the UK last September but they haven’t made a huge splash over here outside of a certain demographic… the youth. More specifically, young girls, though it is safe to say it is not as awkward a crowd for a male as a Miley Cyrus show. (I did overhear one girl ask a friend what was I doing wearing earplugs at a concert, I don’t think she knew what they were though from her tone.)
Take a look at what Natalie Landsberg said on her site, “At 10pm, The 1975 came on stage. First of all, I am OBSESSED with the lead singer, Matt Healy. He is beautiful. His voice is great, his moves are great, and most importantly, his hair is great.” Now multiply her obsession by 3,000, the capacity of Terminal 5. Even if you took away a few hundred people, there were still over 2,000 fans roaring loudly for the band and that’s even before the music started (evident in this clip). It is these youth that made the band big in just about a year (like Chvrches) – The 1975 hadn’t been selling out shows back home before that.
Over the course of a nearly twenty-song set, Healy (vocals/guitar/bottle of booze) and his bandmates, Adam Hann (guitar), Ross MacDonald (bass) and George Daniel (drums), plus new member John Waugh playing saxophone, went wild in front of a dominating wall of light. From far away it was hard to see what the facial expressions — all I saw was silhouette’s rocking out. Healy was the most mobile when he was sans guitar jumping all around the stage and head-bashing ferociously.
While the music suffered somewhat from the poor acoustics of the venue, the essence and essentials of The 1975’s songs were still there. The band kicked things off with “The City” and didn’t allow much room to breathe. Only a few songs were low key, like “Me” which Healy apologized for being somewhat “depressing”. But alongside lesser anthems like “Head Car Bending” and “Menswear”, the band’s biggest hits “Girls” and “Chocolate” all managed to keep people bouncing and singing along the entire night.
Check out higher res images over at Facebook!
“Girls” video:
Tour Dates:
May 12 – 9:30 Club – Washington, D.C.
May 13 – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC
May 14 – The Fillmore – Charlotte, NC
May 15 – Marathon Music Works – Nashville, TN
May 16 – Hangout Festival – Gulf Shores, AL
May 17 – Vinoy Park – St. Petersburg, FL
May 19 – Freebird Live, Jacksonville, FL
May 20 – Culture Room – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
May 21 – Beacham Theatre – Orlando, FL
May 22 – Buckhead Theatre – Atlanta, GA
May 25 – Radio 1 Big Weekend – Glasgow, UK
May 28 – Cain’s Ballroom – Tulsa, OK
May 29 – House of Blues – Dallas, TX
May 30 – Stubbs – Austin, TX
May 31 – KROQ Weenie Roast – Irvine, CA
June 1 – House of Blues – New Orleans, LA
June 3 – Music Farm – Charleston, SC
June 4 – The NorVA – Norfolk, VA
June 5 – Rams Head Live! – Baltimore, MD
June 6 – Governors Ball – New York, NY
June 10 – Mallorca Rocks – Baleares, Spain
June 11 – Ibiza Rocks – Ibiza, Spain
June 12 – Bushmills Live – Bushmills, UK
June 14 – Isle Of Wight Festival – Isle Of Wight, UK
June 20 – Southside Festival – Neuhausen Ob Eck, Germany
June 22 – Best Kept Secret – Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands
June 29 – Glastonbury – Pilton, UK
June 30 – Hove Festival – Arendal, Norway
July 6 – Ruisrock Festival – Turku, Finland
July 10 – Optimus Alive! – Alges, Portugal
July 11 – BBK Live – Bilbao, Spain
July 12 – T in the Park – Kinross, UK
July 18 – Benicàssim – Benicassim, Spain
July 19 – Longitude – Dublin, Ireland
July 20 – Positivus Festival – Salacgriva, Latvia
July 22 – RWS Coliseum – Singapore, Singapore
July 24 – Capitol – Perth, Australia
July 26 – Splendour In The Grass – Byron Bay Nsw, Australia
July 27 – The Hi-Fi – Melbourne, Australia
July 28 – The Hi-Fi – Melbourne, Australia
July 30 – Metro Theatre – Sydney, Australia
Aug 9 – Summer Well Festival – Buftea, Romania
Aug 16 – Summersonic – Tokyo, Japan
Aug 17 – Summersonic – Osaka, Japan
Aug 22 – Bramham Park – Bramham, UK
Aug 22 – Leeds Festival – Leeds, UK
Aug 24 – Reading Festival – Reading, UK
Aug 28 – Zürich Openair – Zurich, Switzerland
Aug 29 – PFF Festival – Orpund, Switzerland
Sept 5 – 7 – Boston Calling – Boston, MA
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