The 1975. Whether you found yourself on Tumblr in the past, heard a song called “About You” playing everywhere last year, or maybe just follow Taylor Swift, chances are you have heard this band name quite a bit. Their current tour is entitled “Still… at their very best” and has been rocking the nation for over a month. When the curtain dropped in Nashville on Sunday, audiences were faced with a staged house similar to those seen in sitcoms. As the cameras introduced all the members of the band, the piano started to ramp up to the opening track of their most recent album, “Being Funny in a Foreign Language”. At this time, Matty Healy opened his first bottle of wine and unscrewed his first flask. This will be a common theme throughout the night.
The first half of the show consisted mainly of songs from their recent project with a few old classics thrown in. Highlights included “I’m in Love With You”, “Robbers”, and an emotional performance of “Me”. After an extended saxophone solo at the end of “About You”, the venue lights almost completely cut out. All attention was drawn towards the now-uncovered B-stage carpeted with astroturf. The stage was only populated by a one-to-one recreation of Matty Healy who was both nude and in a fetal position (this is not a family show). The real (and clothed) Matty climbed onto the B-Stage using a ladder and stood over his clone with a sense of pride. He lay with the clone and mimicked its pose. Before the audience could think about what they were watching, the clone was lowered back onto the stage and was replaced by a small guitar.
After a short intro, Matty started playing “Be My Mistake”. The song is a somber and helpless ballad about lost love and filling the void that seemed to hush the crowd. After the ballad, the entire band appeared on the B-stage for the first time on this tour to perform “Paris”. The small size of the B-Stage forced the band to strip back the drum kit and deliver a very intimate performance. When the final chord was struck, the stadium went black yet again before all attention was drawn to the main screens. A video appeared mimicking American political ads where Matty promised the show would heal all of America’s wounds. This video is made only more confusing when you remember Matty Healy is a Brit.
The second half of this show was a marathon of fan-favorite songs. Some inclusions were “TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME”, “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)”, and “Love It If We Made It”. After this string of songs, we reached the three-song closing which, in my opinion, was the greatest part of the show. It starts with “Sex” from their debut album which got the entire stadium moving with its iconic bridge. We then were treated to “Give Yourself a Try” wherein Matty proclaimed the group “the world’s greatest band” to thundering applause. After this, the speakers turned to static as the band ran off the stage. The static built to a thundering roar as “People” started blaring through the stadium. Matty fell to the ground after screaming the chorus in a chaotic end to the show. In true The 1975 fashion, they ran off the stage without saying a word and made two things very clear: The 1975 are still at their very best and Matty Healy can handle his alcohol.
- Thomas W. Hagan
