Review: The 1975’s recent sold out show at the Hammersmith Apollo

Tuesday night saw the long awaited return of The 1975 to London having toured extensively across the globe for the past two years. With new material, a new image and having just released ‘Love Me’, the band faced high expectations.

With no pre-show playlist, a distorted hum grows steadily louder signaling the beginning of the show, a beat of silence and the band launch into their single, ‘Love Me’. A bold move considering it hasn’t long been available. The crowd erupts and the atmosphere is palpable. They play through several songs from their debut record, with the audience singing back every word.

The lighting and visuals compliment the 80’s aesthetic that is driven by front man Healy. Straying from the black and white monochrome that defined their first record, the band are now lit by psychedelic pastels and LA cityscapes. Clever positioning leaves the band members silhouetted against the backdrop – a striking image.

It is a show that lets the music do the talking. Littered with saxophone and guitar solos, the set is a celebration of all that The 1975 have come to embody. During a saxophone solo in ‘Menswear’, Matty takes a seat on top of the guitar cab, sipping his wine and taking in the moment. As a lead singer, he is clearly intent on becoming an icon.

There are touching moments too. Matty urges the crowd to put their phones away in defiance of the iPhone generation. ‘I just want to be alive in the moment’, he explains. Fans oblige – if only for a moment.

Mid set the band take the audience hand in hand through a collection of their newer material, ‘We couldn’t possibly play all of it, that would be boring…London, are you ready to jump around to a song you don’t know very well?’.

They return to some more familiar material in ‘Robbers’ and ‘Girls’ before leaving the stage. It is a brief exit and the band are back on stage with Matty having changed into a silk number. The rocky track ‘Sex’ brings the show to its finale. It’s a fitting end, with drums crashing over wailing guitars and the crowd going wild.

The 1975 know how to put on a tight, polished show and it’s a show that clearly deserves a much larger stage. This will surely come with the February release of their second album ‘I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It’. For now, London waits again.

Set list

Love Me

Heart Out

Settle Down

So Far (It’s Alright)

The City

You

Menswear

Change Of Heart

She’s American

Me

Fallingforyou

Somebody else

The Sound

Robbers

Girls

——

Medicine

Chocolate

Sex