The 1975 performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre Monday night, May 2, in front of a crowd of over 8,000.
Two bands played before the headliners, Wolf Alice and The Japanese House, who are lesser known bands, but did a good job of warming the crowd up for The 1975.
As soon as the six England natives took the stage, the crowd went insane. The stage lit up and the band broke into one of their hit songs, “Love me,” from their newest album, “I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It.”
Matthew Healy, the lead vocals and rhythm guitarist put on quite the show for the crowd, pausing often between songs to stress how the band owes all of their success to their fans.
“We are a fan driven band,” Healy said, addressing the crowd. “You guys are the lungs of this band, so thank you all.” Healy, who was not adjusted to the altitude and thinner air of Morrison, Colo. remarked how impressed he was that Coloradans can survive here.
They went on to play almost 15 songs in two hours. Halfway through the show, Healy approached the front of the stage and observed how incredible the atmosphere of Red Rocks is. “I’ve never been anywhere so…cool in my life,” he said.
He told the crowd that for the next five minutes, he wanted people to connect through the music and asked everybody to spend the next song without any phones out recording, taking pictures or being used as flashlights. After most of the crowd obliged, the band went on to play a song off their new album.
Five songs or so from the end of their show, the band left the stage and the lights shut off. The crowd continued to cheer and Healy returned along, carrying only an acoustic guitar. He sat down and performed “Nana,” a song on their new album dedicated to his mother. He added before he started that it hadn’t been sound checked yet, but he wanted to share something special with his fans.
A large factor that added to the impressive performance was the setup on stage. In the background was a large LCD screen and similar screens sectioned off the back half of the stage into three parts: the left for a keyboard, middle for the drums and right for the saxophonist. In front and a bit lower than the three in the back stood the lead guitar and lead bass. The charismatic singer danced and shuffled around the stage for the majority of the show, even climbing the saxophone platform at one point. The barriers changed color and pattern after each song, creating an incredible visual effect for all those looking on through the smoke.
I had heard very few songs from The 1975 before this show and only knew the name of one. However, their performance and unique sound swayed me into instant fandom and I was hooked. They sounded great live, and had such a fun attitude while performing. I would highly recommend trying to see them perform at some point — their great music combined with their fun and lively show made it an experience I will not soon forget.
