If you were concerned about where your teen-aged daughter was this Saturday evening, don’t worry- she was probably seeing The 1975.
The completely packed out Thebarton theatre (tickets sold out very, very quickly) was buzzing with excitement as a sound guy walked briefly on stage, and then as Liverpudlian support act Circa Waves danced their way through a frenetic opening set, closing with their single Get Away.
By the the time The 1975 walked onstage it was hard to hear anything for the for the shrieking. Amid the on-trend triangle-shaped backlighting and smoke machines the band launched into The City.
Matt Healey, lead singer and chief heartthrob of the band greeted the city of Adelaide, and when a bra was pitched at him from the audience early on in the set he stuck out an arm and deflected it with skill that suggested much practice.
His easy banter between songs makes up for the somewhat taciturn nature of guitarist Adam Hann, bass guitarist Ross Macdonald and drummer George Daniel, who nonetheless all meshed together with tight technical ability.
The band raced through popular favourites from their self-titled first album; Settle Down, Heart Out and Girls were standouts. Most of the tracks from the debut made an appearance, namely M.O.N.E.Y, So Far (It’s Alright), Me, You and fallingforyou.
We were even introduced to a new band member, saxophonist John Waugh who added a Baker Street vibe to the already 80’s inflected songs about partying and first heartbreaks. Healey conducted an impromptu Happy Birthday song for Waugh, whose birthday it was. This was the first song that did not feature a saxophone solo for quite some time.
After an extended John Waugh saxophone solo the band returned for an encore with their most loved songs.
We were also treated to new single Medicine, written for an alternative soundtrack for the Nicolas Winding Refn film Drive.
At this point, Matt Healy made an impassioned plea for people to put down their phones for once, stop recording the music and actually start enjoying the music.
But, an assembly of girls eager to Snapchat their concert-going experience were not to be stopped, and it was not long before the sea of iPhones reemerged once more to record those vital, last split-seconds of the 1975’s hit single, Chocolate.
Before finishing off their impressive set of slick pop songs with Sex, a fan favourite, Healey promised the crowd that his band would be sure to return to Australia following the release of their second album. At this, the crowd went even wilder than they had already been.
Reviewed by Emma Doherty
More News
