Beloved indie band The 1975 performed at the M&S Bank Arena last night to a roaring crowd of gleeful fans.
As part of their huge tour named 'At Their Very Best', the band were well and truly, better than ever. With an incredibly clever stage set design, the show is split into two halves of theatrical greatness all set in a house.
The first half sees frontman Matty Healy living up to his aesthetic full pelt, sipping red wine from the bottle and slickly smoking cigarettes. Don’t be fooled by his messy, uncontrollable exterior, because nothing about his performance is disorderly - he is in total control.
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In true The 1975 fashion, the show has pizzazz, flair, and a lot of theatrics. ‘At Their Very Best’ is the definition of meta, with the band regularly breaking the fourth wall to the audience, something I’ve never seen before in a gig.
In some parts of the performance, a crew of white coated technicians were seen making style adjustments and snapping the show back into action. Matty Healy particularly expresses a lot of self-awareness throughout, living up to the character he once was - almost like he’s playing a part in the show.
Although the band were more than likely exhausted as they reach the end of their long UK tour, this wasn't evident in their lively performance. The sparkling setlist first showcased hits from their new album Being Funny in a Foreign Language, leading onto old favourites such as ‘fallingforyou’.
The Truman Show style gig was an experience like no other, playing on topical issues with subtlety. The 70’s style TV playing short clips of Liz Truss, Andrew Tate and Vladimir Putin, carefully reminded the audience of political issues and the impact of social media.
Of course, a review for the show wouldn’t be a real review if I didn’t talk about the raw meat eating. Since clips from the show surfaced on social media of the bizarre yet intriguing act, it was even weirder seeing it in person.
If this is something you haven’t heard of, during the show frontman Matty Healy eats a big chunk of raw meat, does some press ups then climbs into the TV. Some fans believe it's referring to toxic masculinity, but of course, it’s all open to interpretation.
The second half of the show sees the band in its finest form, playing zingy hits such as If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) and TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME. Matty Healy’s vocals for me personally, are better than ever, and the sheer ability he has to control the whole of a packed M&S Bank Arena is mesmerising.
As the show continued, the Liverpool audience were given a choice between two The 1975 classics - 'Paris' and 'Menswear' as Matty Healy asked the crowd to scream which one they wanted. Luckily for us, it was a draw - so they played them both and the arena was filled with grinning fans, singing and dancing along.
For me, the clever contrast between the mood in the first half and the second half is what really brought the show together, as The 1975 are truly 'At Their Very Best' right now. The shows theatrical elements without a doubt have a deeper meaning, but that doesn't take away the fact that the performance was immaculate and very enjoyable.
It's so easy to see why this band has a string of awards under their belt and a loyal following. Their show at the M&S Bank Arena was something I'll never forget, and I'm already itching to see them perform again.
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