Reviewed onSaturday July 23 (photo by Ashley Mar)
From the Splendour stage straight to Sydney Olympic Park, The 1975 were welcomed back to our city with open arms as they illuminated the stage with their distinct brand of alt-rock.
“Welcome, we’re The 1975,” announced Matty Healy, the eccentric frontman, after the first song and again after the second. I’ve always found it rather humbling when a well-established band introduces itself. Judging from the deafening screams of the crowd that had been queuing up since the wee hours, an introduction was very much redundant, but points for humility, I say.
If there’s one thing The 1975 nail, it’s atmosphere. Right from the moment the band stampeded onto the stage, complete with gyrating hips and over-the-top dance moves – that were enjoyable to watch, to say the least – the scene was set, and man, was it contagious.
The lighting was out of this world. I mean, the creators of Vivid should check out one of these shows to get ideas for 2017’s installation, because the neon colours and backdrops that lit up the room were beyond belief. Each track had a different aesthetic via lighting that set the mood and played with the senses in the same way that Healy’s voice plays with your emotions. Pure magic.
Unsurprisingly, the time came for Healy to give the run-of-the-mill “please put your phones away and live in the moment” speech – a proposition that I assumed would be too big an ask for the Instagram generation that made up 98 per cent of the crowd, but to my shock horror, a great number of them complied. That’s the effect this band has over its fan base.
And after seeing The 1975’s skills as a live act, I can now fully understand how alternative rock has managed to sneak its way into the consciousness of the younger generation where it stands out in a playlist alongside the likes of Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. Unlike many of their contemporaries, The 1975 are about so much more than selling albums. They’re about a vibe, one that you can’t help but embrace if you see them live.
