Review: The 1975 at Manchester Arena

Manchester Arena was filled to the brim with the sound of pop rock on Tuesday night, as The 1975 sent our emotions off the charts.

Tickets sold out incredibly quickly to catch a glimpse of their latest album, ‘I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It’. Thousands of eager fans waited day and night to be in the same room as pop rock hero, Matty Healy. It was worth every second.

Their support act, ‘The Japanese House’, opened the show with a chilled performance which luckily slowed our heart rates down. However, the adrenaline became insanely intense when a humming noise began 15 minutes before The 1975 entered the arena. The noise became louder and the lights slowly faded, creating an unusual opening to by far the best show in Manchester this year.

Opening with the classic album intro, ‘The 1975’, the band kicked into their groove with ‘Love Me’ which built up to classics such as ‘Girls’ and ‘Robbers’.

The 1975 shredded through a mammoth 24 song set after Matty decided he wanted to perform extra songs for the crowd, as he said: “This is the best night of my life”. Before performing the rare love song ‘Fallingforyou’ which concludes their first album, Matty encouraged everyone to keep their phones down and engage with the song. No one wanted it to end. Our emotions were everywhere.

Heroically, Matty’s speech before ‘Loving Someone’ emphasised how loving anyone is acceptable. The crowd went mental as he held up a fan’s LGBT flag, screaming the lyrics back in pride of who we are.

The backdrops on stage morphed with the music like a mood board, creating stunning visual effects that matched every song.

Matty and Co set the standards high at the arena with a dramatic four song encore, including the new hit ‘The Sound’ and the world’s favourite, ‘Chocolate’.

“Manchester, dreams really do come true”, stated Matty after he gazed at the arena in awe at how far they’ve come over 14 years.

The 1975 are touring Europe far into 2017, leaving their mark on the world in the most brilliant way possible; through music.