Reviewed: The 1975 – Melbourne, Friday September 20
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Reviewed: The 1975 – Melbourne, Friday September 20

Apart from one or two songs, I hadn’t really dived into No Rome’s music prior to the show so I was almost going in blind.  The man himself is incredibly talented and coupled with some great players in his band. The only real complaint that I had was his set felt so short due to a number of the songs coming in at just over two minutes. The band left the stage with almost no indication that their set was done which left myself and a lot of the crowd fairly confused.

 

It’s been a minute since I’ve had to block my ears due to a crowd screaming for a band, but from the moment the lights dimmed and the screens at the back of the stage lit up, the sold out arena absolutely erupted with excitement for The 1975. With no time to waste, the band burst into latest single ‘People’ and the crowd was immediately off their feet. Followed directly by ‘Give Yourself A Try’, ‘TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME’ and ‘She’s American’, they came out of the gate with a tonne of energy that was more than matched by the audience.

 

No Rome returned to the stage to join The 1975 for ‘Narcissist’ before the band launched into a series of lower dynamic songs to bring the mood down. Usually this would allow the audience a moment to relax but they had no intention of doing so, made very clear by the almost deafening sing-alongs for ‘Robbers’, ‘Somebody Else’ and ‘If I Believe You’.

 

Given Friday’s climate strike, it was incredibly poignant that a portion of the set was dedicated to the band’s latest introduction track featuring Greta Thunberg’s passionate call to action. All of the band bar frontman Matty Healy left the stage and it was honestly one of the most moving parts of the show.

 

 

Returning to the stage with the powerful ‘Love It If We Made It’ followed by now classic cuts ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Sex’, the band did an incredible job of compiling a set that covered their entire discography that flowed perfectly from start to finish. Healy tackled ‘Be My Mistake’ by himself on acoustic before the band came back out to close the show with the enormous ‘The Sound’.

 

Like I said before, things have changed a lot for The 1975 over the last five years but only for the better. They’re still the same stellar band that they’ve always been, but they’re now on a level that very few acts reach in this day and age. Every member performed with style and finesse, the production was out of this fucking world and the crowd loved every single second of it. Thank goodness they’re coming back for Laneway soon, because the show was so damn good that I refuse to wait years before I see them again.

 

Read our Gear Rundown on The 1975 here.

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