It was the band's first time back in the country since frontman Healy's stint in rehab. Photo / Garry Brandon Photography
It was the band's first time back in the country since frontman Healy's stint in rehab. Photo / Garry Brandon Photography
"We come bearing fat tunes," was the promise lead singer Matty Healy made. Truth be told, he didn't disappoint.
It was the truest and least fluffy line the master of words uttered the entire night.
The band hadn't been in the country since 2016, meaning there were many "fat tunes" from their latest album, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, that the audience was dying to hear.
Since the last time they were here and played at the Town Hall, frontman Healy had also had a stint in rehab. Though enduring a lot since the last time the band was in New Zealand, his stage persona was as rich and incredible as how the crowd would have remembered him.
Though his energy was apparent from the first moment he stepped on stage, he didn't stop to connect with the audience until about five songs in.
He addressed the irony of how the band only just made it here on the tour for their last album, the same day it's been announced they'll be back to headline Laneway Festival 2020 just after the release of the next.
Healy on stage rocking his signature dance moves. Photo / Garry Brandon Photography
The only costume change for the evening was for Sincerity Is Scary, a much slower number, where he added a fluffy beanie and a backpack. Although the message behind this was unclear, it could only be guessed it was to do with the crowd he was addressing, referring to students in the crowd skipping school commitments and stopping the young audience to ask what their mothers would think.
He says it's fine if anyone skipped an important exam for the concert.
"Come study at the church of Matty, this is a cultural life lesson you can learn a lot from this," he said and sent the crowd into applause.
He politely asks, "Can I smoke?" before lighting up a cigarette.
The only way to describe Healy is as something from another generation.
A bit like a Freddy Mercury, a true rock star and standout individual.
He even said so himself, before leading into hit single "Love Me", which is "a song about being a rockstar, a very hard thing to do."
The 1975, from left: George Daniel, Matty Healy, Adam Hann and Ross MacDonald. Photo / Supplied
In true Healy style, he needed to do something that would trigger the audience to think about themselves as humans.
He stood back and watched with the audience as a video played portraying the post-modernistic world.
It implied that the large impact of our actions on the environment and other human beings need to be considered. It was so provoking that it wouldn't come as a surprise if the entire arena felt their eyes getting a bit wet.
By the time they arrive in NZ in January next year, they will have released another album for Kiwi ears and if this show is anything to judge from, the young crowd's calendar countdowns will have already begun.
