the 1975
Motorpoint Arena 01/22/23
Nottingham UK
Photographer: Jordan Curtis Hughes
Insomnia Journalist: Rianna R.
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Live Review
One of the UK’s biggest indie rock bands, The 1975, returned to Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena for the first time since 2020 – bringing with them the same energetic flair that we all know and love, alongside a few new questionable, but interesting ‘quirks’.
The curtain dropped, revealing a set design inspired by a spacious home. Traditionally, the band opened with the newest rendition of their song ‘The 1975’, as band members and their musical crew joined the stage, each turning on one of the many lamps.
Throughout the first half of the show, frontman Matty Healy completely put on an act, and the entire crowd was immersed in his performance. Sipping from a wine bottle and stumbling around the stage, fans watched this theatrical piece fall into place.
As the quartet played through best hits from their new album; ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’, they mixed in some of the older songs such as ‘Be My Mistake’, which left many concert-goers in tears. The overwhelming feeling of love filled the 10,000 capacity arena, and it was difficult to spot any individual that wasn’t having an amazing time.
After a substantial number of cigarettes were smoked by Healy, men in white coats – almost laboratory looking – entered the space to ‘clean’ up the set. The next scene in this elaborate play was a very dramatic Matty looking dishevelled and taking a bite of raw steak in a somewhat sexual stance. Puffing on another cigarette, he knelt in front of a wall of televisions which were displaying a range of political videos, and eventually crawled into one of the TV’s, consuming him.
The anticipation built as there was a pause which allowed the crowd to recover from the first half of the show. The band returned on stage with an outfit change and they instantly launched into ‘If Youre Too Shy (Let Me Know)’, one of the more uplifting tracks from their discography. Coincidentally, this song’s live debut was in the same venue only a few years prior.
The second half of the show was accurately titled ‘At Their Very Best’, as the band played some of their better known and classic hits. The crowd was given a choice between which song was to be played next: ‘Menswear’, ‘Medicine’, ‘Paris’ and “A Change Of Heart’ were the choices given, and generously, both ‘Menswear’ and ‘Paris’ were played, after the crowd roared for their favourites.
The night was gradually brought to an end after a mind-blowing 26 song set. They provided drama, emotions, entertainment – and a night that nobody wanted to end.
