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The 1975 are undoubtedly doing pretty well for themselves at the moment. Fresh from Radio 1’s Big Weekend - and a support slot with Muse at the Emirates Stadium - they’d have every excuse for maybe being a bit tired when they take the stage for their sold out gig at Heaven. A bit lacklustre, perhaps. Exhausted.
Of course, this is The 1975 - so there’s none of that. Quite the opposite, in fact; the energy in the room rockets to new levels when the band hit the stage stage, with frontman Matt Healy immediately bounding over to stand on one of the amps directly front and centre. He is every inch the frontman.
Looking at The 1975, they seem more like an established rock band who’ve been doing this for years, and there’s a sense that they should be selling out stadiums rather than packing people into Heaven.
The 1975 supported Muse at their recent show at London's Emirates Stadium
Despite not having yet released an album, the band have a number of EPs so the setlist doesn’t suffer from any unneeded padding in the form of covers. Fans are even treated to songs ‘from the album’, Healy says, which promises to be out in September. While ‘Girls’ and ‘Woman’ get a reception that, by any other band’s standards, would be more than acceptable, it’s ‘Sex’, ‘You’ and ‘Chocolate’ which are the biggest hits with the crowd - and with good reason.
Watch The 1975 perform 'Chocolate' at Radio 1's One Big Weekend
‘Sex’ in particular sends the crowd into a frenzy of movement. While some guys at the front seem to be taking this as an invitation to go a little crazy - causing Healy to lean into the crowd, saying, “You want to fight? I’ll fight you, calm down,” - the atmosphere is overall one of camaraderie. Everyone’s here for the same thing, after all.
While some of the momentum is lost during the slower songs, the already-mentioned hits never fail to send it shooting back on track. When the set is done, the band thank the crowd effusively before heading off stage. There aren’t any encores here; when it’s over, it’s over. And the boys make sure it’s worth it.
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