The evening commences with support from local band MMX with an ethereal, expansive set. The crowd love it – the band seem to have, on the most part, the audience’s full attention, and enthusiastic applause follows every song. Set highlight ‘Ritual’ brings to mind a morphing of Keane and Coldplay; its chorus full of echoes and near-falsetto vocals. It’s a shame that the frontman (who moves rather like some robotic Morrissey hybrid) delivers vocals that can’t always be heard, but this is a mere matter of technology, not of the band’s significant talent. Cheers for more go up from the warmed-up crowd as MMX leave the stage following an excellent performance.
Night Engine (who are clearly fans of David Bowie) are the second support act. The frontman, dressed in braces and baggy trousers, dances around the stage with gay abandon to ‘Young Americans’ and ‘Let’s Dance’-influenced art pop (‘I’ll Make it Worth Your While’ is very similar to ‘Fashion’ from Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)). Parallels could also be drawn to Manicured Noise. Funk-infused riffs are littered with intricate synth, somewhat similar to the style of Spider And The Flies, which is an unexpected partner to the guitar music this band began their set with. Its brilliance makes up for the sometimes trite and unoriginal lyrics – ’Treat Me Like a Baby’ being a particular culprit. The energy exuded by the band make for a hugely entertaining set, and it’s astonishing to find that this group have only been together since the beginning of 2012 – a highly-polished, incredibly enjoyable set.
The 1975 finally take the stage to rapturous applause, lit only by the tall rectangular light that features on the artwork on their acclaimed debut. They launch straight into the unmistakable drum intro of ‘The City’, and marbles are lost throughout the packed-out downstairs room of the O2 Academy. Three and four-way harmonies give a more well-developed sound and deliver a deeper experience of the song compared to on the record. Their scorching opener is quickly followed by the Sex EP’s secret track, ‘Milk’ – another rousing guitar track with pounding drums a crack-habit catchy guitar riff.
Songs such as ‘So Far (It’s Alright)’, which follows ‘Milk’, slow the set down quite drastically and can be somewhat humdrum compared to the high energy of the previous songs. Luckily, though, the night picks up with ‘Talk!’ and ‘M.O.N.E.Y’, which features some neat, intricate synth lines towards the end which don’t feature on recordings.
A handful of less well-known tracks are introduced a few songs into the set, such as ‘Head.Cars.Bending’, but are still delivered excellently and enjoyed by all. However frontman Matthew Healy’s vocals are quite whiney (as they are on recorded tracks), which does become rather annoying after several songs. We can forgive the band this, though, as they reinvent their sonic experience live by adding in new layers that do not feature on studio versions.
Overly loud synth begins album track ‘Heart Out’, drowning out the sounds from the other instruments, but this is another small matter of sound, which doesn’t detract from the ambience whatsoever. A rousing rendition of ‘Girls’ is received ecstatically by the crowd, who adore everything Healy does: he stands on a large box; they go mental. He throws a microphone stand; they lose their shit. It’s incredible to observe the infatuation so many people have with a band that have only been around for a few years. Strobe lighting adds another dimension to the performance, adding to its energy and atmosphere.
The beautiful ‘Robbers’ soon follows, with ethereal echoed guitars and vocals creating a wonderful moment that is certainly the night’s highlight. The next few songs’ – Pressure’ and ‘fallingforyou’ – provide a slow point that is both necessary and also rather too long to be enjoyable. Healy apologises for this slow burst though before launching into the unmistakable ‘Chocolate’. The band are, by the looks of it, having the time of their lives – as are the crowd, who cheer deafeningly for more as the 1975 finish their indie almost-chart-topping single and leave the stage. Cries of “we want ‘Sex'” are soon answered by exactly that – the title track of the 2012 EP. There doesn’t seem to be anyone who isn’t belting the chorus back at the Manchester quartet, who thank us as the song comes to a close, gushing how they never expected to play to such a fantastic and sizeable crowd. It’s almost touching (even though it feels they’ve said this to every crowd on this tour). All cynicism aside the final track, the expansive ‘You’, has an undeniable sense of triumph. And why shouldn’t it? This is a band who’ve gone from punk covers in a local club to supporting the Rolling Stones in a number of years you could count on two hands, and they deserve every fortune that’s coming to them.