The 1975 Have Proven They Are (Still) At Their Very Best
Samantha Colleran, November 2023
On November 14 and 15 (yes, two nights!) I finally got to cross one of my favorite bands off of my concert bucket list. Matty Healy (lead vocals), Ross MacDonald (bass), George Daniel (drums), and Adam Hann (lead guitar) brought their Still… At Their Very Best tour to two sold out nights at MSG, and I don’t think I could have asked for better experiences. Two nights full of so many songs I’ve come to adore over the years and lots of surprises made these back to back shows unforgettable.
Dora Jar, the band’s opening act, was incredibly high energy and got the audience warmed up for the following two and a half hour set by The 1975. Dora’s half hour set consisted of eight songs, all intriguing and exciting in their own way. Stand out tracks for me were “Polly”, “Quiver”, and the set closer “Puppet” which was just released on Friday, November 17. Some songs Dora explained the meaning behind such as “Scab Song” which was written after jumping a fence and getting a scrape that looked like Hawaii, “Lagoon” is about wanting to be a mermaid, and “It’s Random” was written during the pandemic.
The 1975’s setlist is broken up into different acts, the first of the three is mostly made up of songs from their 2022 release, Being Funny In A Foreign Language, apart from a select few. The stage is set up like a house with windows, a couch and chairs, televisions, doors to let people in and out. Every album of The 1975’s opening track is called “The 1975” and for their first three albums the song had the same lyrics but a different instrumentation, this tradition changed with their 2020 release Notes On A Conditional Form. The BFIAFL version is also different, its lyrics talking about the modern world as well as some of Matty’s own issues and faults. This leads right into “Looking For Somebody To Love”, “Happiness”, and “Part Of The Band”, high energy tracks that had the crowd moving. A quick BFIAFL break is taken for “Sincerity Is Scary”, and then they’re right back at it with “Oh Caroline” and “I’m In Love With You”, two of my personal favorite songs from the album. “A Change Of Heart” slows things down a bit, but for a longtime fan who has never seen them live, it was surreal to hear for the first time live.
If the band could be summed up in four notes, according to Matty, it would be the opening of their fan favorite track “Robbers”. This song has come to be a staple in the band’s discography and on tour setlists, and it’s also one of the first songs I heard by them that made me become a fan. It’s a powerful moment in the set, and screaming “Now everybody’s dead” with a crowd of thousands healed a part of me. Night 2 was even more special, as Matty put on the iconic floral shirt from the music video (I may or may not have held back tears when I realized what he was putting on).
The second act, “Matty’s Nightmare”, takes place on the B stage and kicks off with what has come to be one of the most talked about segments of the show; a naked replica of Matty curled up in the fetal position. Matty joins the replica and interacts with it by looking at it, covering it with his suit jacket, and laying next to it while holding its hand. This is followed by the gut wrenching “Be My Mistake” which is performed acoustically. (Note that on Night 2, the replica was brought on the main stage and laid on the couch and remained there the rest of the night, “Be My Mistake” was still performed on the B stage). Polly Money, the band’s backing guitarist, then took the lead on vocals for “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America”, with Matty joining in towards the end on the first night.
The third act, “Still… At Their Very Best”, brings in some of the songs I was most excited to see live. “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)”, “Love It If We Made It”, “Somebody Else” and “Sex” are just a few of the tracks that were among my favorite parts of the night. Screaming along to “Love It If We Made It” is something I always knew would be powerful, but it’s not until you’re actually in it experiencing it you feel the intense energy and meaning behind every word. Songs like “TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME” and “The Sound” had everyone on their feet, the latter of which Matty told everyone, even the straight guys in the crowd, to jump and dance around. The set closed with “People”, the band’s heaviest track instrumentally, which is a cry for people to speak out and act against world issues that divide us, especially ones that will impact the younger generations for years to come. This is normally performed on the B stage by Matty, Ross, and Adam, while George stays on stage. Night 1 they didn’t have enough time to get to the stage, but Night 2 they were able to make it work, which was perfect as the section I was in had a very close view of the stage!
Going into a show put on by The 1975, you have to understand that there is lots of commentary on the current climate of our world. At points during the show while the band is performing some of their more emotional songs, videos are up on the big screen next to them mocking the popular trend on TikTok of Reddit stories being shared over a game of Subway Surfers or videos of people doing random things such as crushing soda cans in order for people to pay attention to the story being told. Night 1 had Matty’s BetterHelp speech, where he acknowledges his problematic comments and actions in the past and pledges to do better. He then went on to say that there is nothing wrong with wanting to better yourself and speaking to a professional is the best way to do that; a fake advertisement pops up where Matty jokes about using code Sorry75 to get a discount on mental health services. Night 2 proved a bit more controversial, as Matty went on a rant about the band not receiving any Grammy nominations this year, or in previous years. He said he has moved past being tasteful and expressed his frustration, especially since “About You” became so popular on social platforms. During this rant, he shared that Kanye is one of his heroes because of how strong minded he is when it comes to his own beliefs. This caused some fans to (rightfully) boo, and Matty continued, “Separate the antisemitism, just think about the self belief”. Before he could go on and dig himself into a deeper hole, the band cut him off and began their track “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)”, a running gag throughout the tour.
Seeing the band twice meant different surprises on each night. Both included Matty’s father, Tim Healy, singing the BFIAFL single “All I Need To Hear”, Carly Holt-Hann came out to sing her part on “About You”, and as mentioned earlier Polly took the lead on vocals for “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America”. Both nights also featured the band’s breakout track “Chocolate”. Night 1’s additional surprise song was “You”, while Night 2 got “Girls” and “fallingforyou”, all of which are from their self titled album which made me incredibly happy to witness as that still remains my favorite album by The 1975.
As a longtime fan who, as mentioned multiple times throughout this post, has never had the chance to see them live until now, I’m still feeling so many emotions simply thinking about these shows. I was able to heal a part of the teenager in me and also celebrate the fact I’m still falling in love with their music all these years later. This double feature is one I’m so grateful to have experienced, I will never forget it.
If you’re interested in all of the shows I’ve attended this year, you can check out my concert playlist which features the setlist of every 2023 concert, and has recently been updated to include both The 1975 and Dora Jar’s setlists for both nights.