REVIEWED: The 1975 at Manchester Arena

There’s nothing quite like a bit of boasting from frontman, Matty Healy, as he opens The 1975’s first gig on home turf in just over two years, exclaiming “welcome to the stage the greatest band in the world”. Whilst it might seem arrogant to others, the fans of The 1975 reel in the atmosphere and, of course, mirror him with screams and a rapturous applause.

It’s a gig that’s high in demand, with fans flying in from across the globe to see the four-piece play in their home town of Manchester. But from the dedicated fans who camp out overnight, to the ones who are more interested in getting a vino down their neck than being on the barrier, there’s no denying that everyone here loves the band as equally as one another.

The high-pitched catchy guitar riff of ‘Give Yourself A Try’ resonates through the arena as the stunning stage show comes to life, closely followed by ‘TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME’. It’s almost ironic how The 1975 have transformed into a pop band three albums deep, yet in their music video to ‘Girls’ from their first album, they claim “We’re not a pop band.”

Nevertheless, whatever genre they decide to be, their fans are some of the most loyal in the world. It’s humbling to see for the ones who were watching them from their early days, playing at the likes of Manchester’s Deaf Institute and The Ritz, to see them sell out arena tours globally.

It’s not long before the band plunge into some classics off their second and first album. Keeping in with the pop theme, they rattle off a few of their fun-loving, bouncy songs packed with 80’s orientated synth pop.

‘How To Draw/ Petrichor’ is a stand out from the latest album and is perfect for arena shows. Healy’s lyrics are emotional and thought -provoking, so it only seemed right to take this opportunity to turn the tone down and delve into the raw love songs: ‘Robbers’ and ‘fallingforyou’.

“It’s hard to pick songs to play because we’ve got a lot of them now,” Healy brags, “So I’m going to give you an option of two, a bit of democracy – because that’s gone so well recently.”  The crowd opts for ‘Paris’ over ‘UGH!’ and gloat because the band gave Manchester an opportunity to shape their own setlist.

Earning their status with hits like ‘Chocolate’, ‘Sex’ and ‘The Sound’ padding out the encore, there really is no stopping the band of the century. With eclectic visuals and unquestionably catchy tracks, The 1975 are simply sublime.