Lead singer Matt Healy's quick wit and banter make for a performance that goes beyond the moody ballads he’s associated with. Photo / Supplied
Lead singer Matt Healy's quick wit and banter make for a performance that goes beyond the moody ballads he’s associated with. Photo / Supplied
OPINION:
“You’ve gotta admit”, Matt Healy tentatively eyes up the crowd. “Your life wouldn’t be as dramatic without The 1975.″
And the leading man is probably right.
If you are a fan of The 1975, or have perhaps stumbled upon a few clips of their tour on TikTok, you’ll no doubt be aware of the chaotic extravaganza that was to hit the stage on Friday night - and “dramatic” is putting it lightly.
Videos of The 1975′s Matty Healy have gone viral showing the leading man chugging a bottle of red wine and taking drags of a cigarette. Some gigs have even seen the maestro eat raw meat, do push-ups, snog fans and suck an audience member’s thumb.
It’s this kind of unhinged behaviour we were thirsting for.
The lead singer lights a cigarette and dives into Oh Caroline. Photo / Supplied
The British band makes themselves at home on the stage - it features a couch, a lamp and rug similar to that of your nan’s living room. The only exception to Grandma’s abode might be the stage full of instruments and an intoxicated Matty Healy walking into the spotlight to Elvis’ Love Me Tender.
“Atpoiam” is scrawled out across the backdrop - A Theatrical Performance Of An Intimate Moment - and we couldn’t have described the ambience any better ourselves.
The lead singer lights a cigarette and dives into Oh Caroline.
A handheld camera follows Healy across the stage to show a documentary-style film on the screens. The effect is an intimate experience for both the crowd and the band. As Matty breaks the third wall singing to the camera - and as it focuses back on the audience - there’s the feeling of both watching a music video and being the object of its attention.
A sombre Healy with wet hair, a hooded raincoat and a bottle of red breaks into Sincerity is Scary through a cloud of cigarette smoke and you forget that this is the same guy who asked former Primer Minister David Cameron to make a mixtape. The man is an anomaly.
The 1975 also delved into crowd-pleasers such as Robbers, Somebody Else and Love It If We Made It, with Healy at the helm of the chaos and a flurry of strobe lights shadowing the band. Photo / Supplied
The star then sits under lamplight in what seems like a therapy session chat and unloads a series of emotional revelations.
“I do feel shy, ladies and gentlemen”, admits Healy. “The first part of the show is about me. It’s about how if you’re a single guy and you’ve spent a year or so alone on the internet, you go mental.
“The show is about looking at masculinity, looking at being famous. It’s about being what’s real and what’s sincere and not sincere.”
“I feel a bit bad because I’ve been a bit irresponsible. I don’t like being famous." Photo / Supplied
“The whole thing is getting a bit weird because it’s self-referential. The character in the show is me. And the show is about someone who makes mistakes and does the wrong thing.”
Healy continues, “I feel a bit bad because I’ve been a bit irresponsible. I don’t like being famous. I make a joke out of everything and I’ve taken it too far sometimes in front of a lot of people and I feel embarrassed. That’s the truth.”
Healy’s heart-to-heart comes to an end. He lights another cigarette and jumps into a raw performance of If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know).
Sax player John Waugh in the spotlight at Spark Arena. Photo / Supplied
Flask in hand - filled with god knows what - the leading man clumsily walks across the stage, singing his lungs out to I’m In Love With You and About You from the band’s latest album Being Funny In a Foreign Language.
The 1975 also delves into crowd-pleasers such as Robbers, Somebody Else and Love It If We Made It, with Healy at the helm of the chaos and a flurry of strobe lights shadowing the band.
Stumbling across the stage with a quick wit and banter, the lead singer provides a performance that goes beyond the moody ballads he’s associated with, he’s extremely entertaining to watch.
“Please give it up for the world’s greatest band - The 1975″, Healy shouts to the crowd. Photo / Supplied
“We’ve got so many great songs”, Healy says conceitedly. “Personal problems but it’s hard to make a set. This is like a greatest hits sort of thing”- and It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You) starts to play.
Healy proceeds to touch himself during The Sound and has the whole crowd in a never-ending jump for Sex - the man truly is a rockstar.
The band ends their electrical performance with Give Yourself A Try - which disorderly Healy serves with signature modesty.
Matty Healy is probably the most inebriated, clumsy and pretentious performer reviewer Megan Watts has seen live - and The 1975's show is one of the best concerts she's been to. Photo / Supplied
“Please give it up for the world’s greatest band - The 1975″, Healy shouts to the crowd.
The performance was nothing short of a spectacle, with Healy as the drunken protagonist and the band as his bottle of booze. The man is absolutely intoxicated by the music - so much so that one can’t decide whether the singer is channelling the sex, drugs and rock n roll demeanor of an 80s rocker, or if, in fact, he’s just pissed.
Either way, the facts are simple. Matty Healy was probably the most inebriated, clumsy and pretentious performer I’d ever seen live - and The 1975 is probably one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.
