"This is a big week for us," smiles The 1975 frontman Matt Healy in a moment of understatement, as the band kick off the first night of their UK tour and staggering five-night sold out residency at London's Brixton Academy while simultaneously celebrating a No.1 album. "We've got a big set for you tonight."
He's not wrong. It's a set that leans quite heavily on new album, I Like It When Your Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It - dropping ten tracks from the record into a 22 song set. A bold move, and potentially risky. Or it would be if the album wasn't an absolute triumph.
A 15 minute cinematic backing track gradually builds before the lights dim to a fanatical chorus of screams - the volume and fervour of which you'd normally associate with Beatlemania, teens at a One Direction gig or a winning goal. That pretty much says it all; the lights aren't even up yet and they've already won.
'Love Me' erupts with its slick, Prince-esque sex-funk. The track that launched the new record, the sense of a band blooming from a pop-noir curiosity into a full-coloured experience is magnified tenfold by bathing in the love that it receives live. The same goes for the off-beat instant earworm of 'UGH!', before the voice of the crowd drowns out the PA for an affirming run through of 'Heart Out'.
From there, our attention is held entirely by a band who are set on asserting who they've become. Backed by a dazzling, neon cityscape of lights and visuals, they look the part of an arena band, and as they draw on the full spectrum of their sonic pallette, they sound like it too. The sweet sentiment and electro charm of 'Change Of Heart' float across Brixton Academy, begging to fill fields at festivals this summer, while 'Menswear' and 'Somebody Else' play on the more esoteric eccentricities that they seldom get true credit for. 'Robbers' aches with a refined melancholy on a grand and unifying scale, culminating with the decadent rush of 'Sex' bringing the first set to a close. You can't possibly dance and howl your way through that without beying for more.
And they have so much more to give, The 1975 are the band of plenty. Remember, they sold out Brixton Academy before their debut album was even released, and the sheer volume of material they have to their name already is overwhelming.
And as they burst through the modern radio classic of 'Chocolate' into the immaculate and soulful sheen of 'The Sound' and the finale of the bubblegum glee of 'Girls', the intimacy of seeing a band so unfathomably huge in a venue like this leaves us in no doubt that five nights at Brixton Academy could have so easily been two nights at The O2 Arena, or more. Make no mistake, they'll get there before you know it because their momentum is unstoppable. We daresay they'll headline Reading or Glastonbury within three years. But for now, the year 2016 well and truly belongs to The 1975.
The 1975 played:
Love Me
UGH!
Heart Out
So Far (It's Alright)
A Change of Heart
She's American
Anobrain
Menswear
Loving Someone
The Ballad of Me and My Brain
Me
fallingforyou
Somebody Else
Robbers
Settle Down
Paris
Medicine
Sex
Encore:
If I Believe You
Chocolate
The Sound
Girls
Their remaining UK tour dates are below. For tickets and more information, visit here.
The 1975 will play:
Sat March 05 2016 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
Mon March 07 2016 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
Tue March 08 2016 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
Wed March 09 2016 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
Sat March 12 2016 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Sun March 13 2016 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Mon March 14 2016 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Tue March 15 2016 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Thu March 17 2016 - GLASGOW O2 Academy Glasgow
Fri March 18 2016 - GLASGOW O2 Academy Glasgow
Sat March 19 2016 - GLASGOW O2 Academy Glasgow
Sun March 20 2016 - GLASGOW O2 Academy Glasgow
Tue March 22 2016 - BIRMINGHAM Barclaycard Arena
Thu March 24 2016 - DUBLIN 3Arena
