The 1975, O2 Academy, Glasgow
- Written by Danielle Gibson
Four venues and three weeks of intensive shows, The 1975 are back and raring to go on their UK tour. But it’s no wonder that by the time the guys reach their final Glasgow gig on Sunday night at the O2 Academy, they’re ready to chill out for a bit.
Which is a testament to their latest album. I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It is an evolution of the self-titled 2013 LP. Gone are the pop rock chart toppers, and enter the languid 80s post-rock vibes. Tonight’s performance started out as such and who can blame them, it’s a 22 song set. Quite a risky move but when you’re new LP is 17 songs long, you could kind of guess it was going to be a jam packed evening.
The whole show is flawless as the band batter on through their catalogue of tracks. 10 tracks from the latest album were played tonight including ‘Love Me’ as the opener. Really, the fans didn’t need any more encouragement to love them. Even though the band seemed chilled, as soon as they came on stage it was pandemonium with crazed fanatical screams that you would expect from a One Direction show. A very surreal experience.
The mood changes over the course of the night going from eerie with ‘A Change Of Heart’ to the more mellow 1980s pop on ‘She’s American’. The only issue with this though is there is a heavy emphasis on the mellow tracks coming one after the other. But lead singer Matt Healy manages to keep the crowd’s attention with his swish, languid moves around the stage.
If you thought it was going to stay chilled, then that all changed when fan favourites ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Sex’ start strumming out in the encore. After chanting from the crowd, everything lit up and Healy was encouraging the them to sing. These guys know how to work the crowds and will do for years to come.
They have so much more to give. These guys are so flexible, even if just from the range of tracks they have in just two albums. They are bizarre, they are mellow and everything else in between. Here’s hoping that this tour is just the start of The 1975’s best year yet.