Live Review: The 1975, Brixton Academy

You’ve got to hand it to The 1975. The Manchester-based four-piece are currently mid-way through a mammoth five-month tour across the UK, Ireland, Europe, Asia, the US and Australia – not bad for a band who, bar a couple of EPs, are still less than one year on from the release of their self-titled debut album.

Tonight, the first of three sold-out dates at London’s Brixton Academy, The 1975 cemented themselves as a potential might for British pop-rock. It could have fallen flat on their faces; there’s something quite intriguing about the potential uncertainty of witnessing a band perform live for the first time, however the result was fairly clear from early on; for a relatively ‘new’ band, you can’t help but be absorbed into the excitement of their on-stage presence.

In fact, the audience, whom were surprisingly young (and largely female) were drawn in from the offset. There seemed to be an infinite amount of energy bouncing around the walls of The Academy during the set, amongst that a mass of hysteria which one could only liken to Beatle-mania. A large majority of the crowd felt this was not a time for camera-phones; they clearly wanted to be immersed in a live experience, and not view the show through a four-inch screen. And quite right too…. within ten minutes it seemed The 1975 had proven that their inclusion into the lineup of April’s Coachella Festival was fully deserved.

Bursting onto the stage with The City, it didn’t take long for lead singer Matt Healy to jump into the crowd. In fact, Healy himself came across as a new-age Alex Turner; composed, energetic, yet focused – unsurprisingly mind, considering The 1975‘s debut album was co-produced by Mike Crossey (whose work with Arctic Monkeys has been famously documented). The band also seemed to forge a bond onstage and seemingly unafraid to show it, which is something quite comforting, and rare, for a group in this genre.

There is, however, an obvious interest by Healy & co for the band to ensure differentiation from their Arctic relatives, and they make a decent stab at this with EP-track Milk. From the multi-pad electronic drum machine to the addictive strings, witnessing the track being performed live proves that The 1975 are worth far more than the ‘pop-friendly’ Chocolate and Sex have conveyed them for in the past (the latter two which closed the show).

It wasn’t all rosy however, with the sound appearing far too muffled (for the front twenty percent at least), an issue that didn’t seem to appear for [brilliant] support act Swim Deep; the point unfortunately left a small part of the set to feel slightly ‘rationed’, however fortunately the group have enough onstage charisma and energy to power through, and to make something as important as the sound seem, well, irrelevant. There’s very few bands that have the prowess to exert this so effortlessly.

There were thrills in the evening, and it’s encouraging to see that not all under-20s are enthused solely with One Direction, though if the band are to continue their unsurprising success, they will need to define who they actually are and which market they are aiming to capture. Unfortunately, the fickle music industry rarely allow ‘credibility’ and ‘teenage audience’ to appear in the same sentence.

If you can forego the screams and hysteria (and actually get a ticket), then you won’t be disappointed.

The 1975 play at Brixton Academy on 10th/11th January. Hit the iTunes button below to download The 1975’s self-titled debut album, now. For high-resolution imagery, and image rights, please contact Cane Photography