Photo: WENN
The 1975 are definitely on a steep upwards trajectory. Over the last year, they seem to have blown up into the mainstream, with everyone from Harry Styles to Don Broco commenting on them. At Shepherd’s Bush, even Ellie Goulding is in attendance. There’s a lot of hype surrounding The 1975 right now – so it’s a relief that they more than manage to live up to it.
The band have only recently released their debut album, and it’s no secret that sometimes playing album tracks can kill the excitement at a venue (particularly if those tracks aren’t very good). But unlike other bands, that’s something that The 1975 don’t have a problem with. Due, in part, to the amount of EPs released – and due in no small part to the commitment and borderline obsession of the fanbase – the crowd at Shepherd’s Bush know every single song already. By heart.
‘Settle Down’ and ‘Robbers’ get as strong of a roar from the audience as ‘Milk’, ‘Girls’ and ‘The City’ do – although there’s an extra level of excitement reserved for ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Sex’, of course.
Despite giving the impression of a pop band – it’s hard to deny the inherent poppiness of singles ‘Sex’ and ‘Chocolate’, for example – there’s an extra complexity in the songs that can sometimes be missed, and the band definitely make the most of it live – with the ambient indie vibe of ‘Talk!’ feeling almost hypnotic at times.
The band end, as always, with ‘You’ (which disappointingly wasn’t included on the album), after a wildly received performance of ‘Sex’, which sees frontman Matt Healy throwing himself around on a square box of light at the front of the stage.
Outside after the concert, girls and boys cluster around the hastily erected fencing by the stage door, waving posters and signs and looking like they wouldn’t be out of place waiting for a boyband. It’s the contrast that The 1975 so often seem to inspire, creating a boyband effect despite the more elevated form of pop music that they offer.
Either way, with performances like these it’s safe to say that they’re going to be around for a long time yet.
