On 22nd January 2023, The 1975 made their first appearance in Nottingham since before the COVID-19 pandemic as part of their ‘At Their Very Best’ tour, and I was lucky enough to be one of the attendees.
If you have been anywhere near social media the last few weeks, you’ll know that this tour has been stirring up quite a storm: from the lavish 70s house style set, to eating raw steak on stage, to lead singer Matty Healy making out with fans– there certainly hasn’t been a dull moment. Since booking my ticket back in September, and after seeing all this buzz around the tour online, when January 22nd rolled around, I could not have been more excited.
When the moment came and the curtain finally dropped to reveal the set and the band themselves, it was clear that everyone in the Motorpoint Arena felt the same way I did. In true Matty Healy style, the lead singer rose from the sofa, took a swig from his bottle of red wine, and lit a cigarette, setting the tone for the rest of the gig- pretentious but cool from the very beginning.
The band’s latest album ‘Being Funny in A Foreign Language’ was arguably even better in person. From the saxophones to the percussion, to the bass and guitars, each and every song was executed by the band to perfection. Matty’s vocals were on point for the full two and a half hours that the gig lasted, which is testament to both his talent, and the amount of hits that the band have produced in their 11 years together. Some of my favourites from this album are ‘Oh Caroline’, ‘Part of the Band’ and ‘I’m In Love With You’, so you can imagine how hard I belted out the lyrics when they performed each of these songs. Although I loved watching the new songs live, there was just something about hearing some of their old classics such as ‘Robbers’, ‘Somebody Else’, ‘Paris’ and ‘Love It If We Made It’. Matty was pitch perfect, and the entire crowd (me included) was signing their hearts out and dancing away.
What struck me the most is how much the entire audience was fixated on every word that came out of Matty Healy’s mouth. Even if you love him or hate him, you can’t deny that he knows how to captivate a crowd! One of the strangest parts of the performance was when Matty proceeded to eat raw steak, do several push ups, and crawl through one of the televisions on set. I won’t lie, this metaphor does slightly go over my head- apparently he is alluding to the impact of technology on young people, but it was still quite the spectacle to see it live.
Overall, I think The 1975 ‘At Their Very Best’ tour lived up to its name, and I for one can’t wait for their next tour so I can do it all over again!