“I’ve come here to celebrate being a f***ing legend,” announced frontman Matt Healy at The 1975’s biggest show to date. Given the Manchester group’s chart-topping success here and in the US with their second album, he was entitled to be cocky.
The band were accompanied by LED lights and projections, though the foppish singer was still the main attraction. Quaffing red wine, he stalked the stage in what appeared to be his slippers as fans sang every word back at him. With his admirable sense of absurdity, Healy was a genuine pop star — and the songs were pretty good too. The 1975’s scattershot approach ranged from the flamboyant funk-pop of Love Me to electronica interludes featuring the band hunched over equipment and the euphoric digital soul of If I Believe You.
While the songs didn’t always match their ambition, Healy held it all together with his preening and pronouncements. His political speech about 2016 (“an exhausting year”) hit the right note as The 1975 launched into their soothing anthem, Loving Someone.
For the encore of The Sound, the rubbery groove and pulsating lights became one for a finale that lived up to all of the self-confident singer’s hype.
Tonight, December 16, (0844 856 0202, theo2.co.uk)
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