Updated 09.57 | Published 01.12
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full screen The picture is from Lollapalooza this summer because photography was prohibited at the concert with The 1975 at the Tele 2 Arena. Photo: Sofia Blomgren/Rockfoto
CONCERT The 1975 rethinks the concert format by bringing a nostalgic living room to Tele 2 Arena.
With an innovative performance, they win over the doubters.
The 1975
Place: Tele 2 Arena, Stockholm. Public: 8,000 (sold out). Length: 2 hours. Best: ”About you” och ”Tootimetootimetootime”. Worst: The cloth bag in the merch stall with the text “The 1975 – not a fan” is not.
Some can certainly be said about how much The 1975 actually moves guitar pop forward with its update of the 80s Tracklist. But they challenge the concert format brilliantly.
The entrance is brilliant. The scene consists of a nostalgic living room on different floors. Blinds drawn, creaky teak, ant war on the big screen TV. One by one, the band members enter through a door and light up the room with small lamps. Outside, the crickets of the night play. The singer Matty Healy sits down at the piano and necks some wine. With the cig in one hand, he compares himself to the other.
The concert was originally supposed to be held at the Annex, but quickly sold out and was moved to Tele 2. The arena has been rebuilt into a more intimate version where we are embedded in black fabric on the standing area.
The 1975 is pop-flattering in a way that became okay for bands to be only in the mid-’00s, when enough time had passed since the ’80s. Before that, abundant saxophone or house gods like Duran Duran and Alison Moyet.
It is also interesting how the alternative pop music and the commercial music approached each other. Several of the songs from the Manchester band’s latest album “Being funny in a foreign language” could be taken from Taylor Swifts record “Lovers” (the two also have a common producer in the permanent Jack Antonoff).
Compared to the lazy display at Lollapalooza last summer, tonight’s concert is miles better. British miles at least. Not least because of the visuals – and the main character.
Matty Healy, who added a new “Trainspotting” hairstyle, is something so rare these days as a charismatic frontman. An “anti-hero”, to quote a former fling. One who rolls his eyes but takes the cameras rather than averting his eyes.
The living room on stage is the place where the concert takes place, like a sultry British soap from about the same year the band is named after. Gloomy news is shown on televisions. The war in Ukraine, the climate crisis, rockets over Israel. Healy chain smokes dejectedly on the couch.
In the middle of the concert, the cozy lights are turned on again for a, shall we call it “Folklore” party? This expression is also mastered by Healy and his cronies.
One of the few interludes that the frontman has this evening is about the memory of when the family gathered in front of the television. He talks about the lack of common cultural references in a generation where everyone consumes different things.
– All I know is that I get better when I have people around me, he says.
Then he plays the ballad “Be my mistake” in front of a sea of swaying phones.
The Brits keep the hits going and the end of the concert is a cavalcade of fan favourites. “If you’re too shy (let me know)” creates the biggest sing-along of the evening. “The sound” transforms the arena into a collective, jumping body.
And during ”It’s not living (if it’s not with you)”, a girl in the audience face-times a friend who is dancing happily at home on the sofa.
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FACT
All the songs
1. The 1975 (BFIAFL) 2. Looking for somebody (to love) 3. Happiness 4. Part of the band 5. Oh Caroline 6. I’m in love with you 7. A change of heart 8. Robbers 9. Chocolate 10. So far (it’s alright) 11. Fallingforyou 12. About you 13. When we are together 14. Be my mistake 15. Jesus Christ 2005 god bless America 16. If you’re too shy (let me know) 17. Tootimetootimetootime 18. It’s not living (if it’s not with you) 19. The sound 20. Somebody else 21. Girls 22. Love it if we made it 23. Sex 24. Give yourself a try
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