The 1975 made their first stop of their North American Tour, Still…At Their Very Best in Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center Sept. 26. With stage sets that matched the vibe of their songs and an audience that smoked along with lead singer Matty Healy, the concert was an eccentric experience with unexpected acts.
Similar to other Golden 1 events, entering the venue through general admission was easy and took less than 10 minutes. There was plenty of time to spend in the merch line, where I had 35 minutes to choose amongst the 15 different T-shirt and sweatshirt designs.
The curtains dropped at 8:32 p.m., and by 8:46 p.m. Matty Healy had already smoked one cigarette, drank three sips of wine and had a swig from his flask. The band opened with their self-titled song, “The 1975.” The set itself was the inside of a house, and the background screen changed to match the song that was playing. My favorite was the second set of lights: purple and light blue clouds that gave an illusion of movement. The neon sign reading “Still…at their very best,” in cursive was the perfect touch to the angelic and calming ambiance.
The show’s first act ended with my favorite song, “About You.” During this song, Healy got on top of the house and the lights went dim, bringing the audience’s full attention to the music. This was the loudest the crowd had sung along all evening.
As someone who made a concert prep playlist to learn The 1975’s music before going to the concert, I didn’t understand the drinking on stage or the naked man rising from underground. However, my confusion kept me intrigued and I found it similar to the unconventional theatrics of a Cirque du Soleil show.
The second act of the show started at the B Stage. It was a green cube at the other end of the floor. I wondered how Healy traveled from stage to stage so quickly, as for all other concerts I’ve been to at Golden 1, there was one long stage with a runway. The spotlight on Stage B revealed a naked man, curled up like a baby. His front was facing my side of the arena, and seeing a man’s genitals at a concert was definitely a first for me. It was so weird, yet I couldn’t pull my eyes away because it was so strange. There was soft piano music playing as the platform rose and displayed the man. Then Healy climbed up the side of the stage and crawled towards the naked man, like a hyena approaching a dead animal.
After Healy layed next to the man for some time, he finally went back below the stage. Then Healy sang his solo, “Be My Mistake.” It was during this song I realized why Taylor Swift dated the band’s lead singer. He sings so smoothly and with so much emotion, it was especially difficult to keep the tears from falling during this song. Almost everyone in the audience held up their phone flashlights, illuminating the entire venue.
From 9:40 to 9:50 p.m., the band played three songs in a row that I immediately recognized from my preparation playlist as my favorites. I sang the loudest during the golden trio of “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know),” “Girls” and “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You).” This ensemble of songs was a shift from the calm and peaceful music from earlier in the show.
Act Three was filled with upbeat songs until Healy spoke about the fake reality social media creates. He was reading off his phone and stuttering, showing signs of how intoxicated he was. Playing alongside him on the screens were clips of slime scooping, “The Simpsons”, Subway Surfers and more. It was a clear reference to the thousands of storytime TikToks where someone is speaking while something random plays to keep the viewer’s attention. However this irony completely went with Healy’s message that social media takes away from the real world experience. He had people in the crowd introduce themselves to each other in order to create a memory other than photos. Comparing this to Healy’s past rants, this encouragement to pull away from social media was positive and well received by the audience.
After every song following the social media speech, the band thanked the audience. There were seven songs from then until the end of the show. However before playing the last two songs of the night, Healy announced that the band would be going on an indefinite hiatus following the completion of this tour. Announcing this on opening night set the tone for the rest of the tour and for all of their fans, that this was it.
The 1975 concluded the show with “People,” a rock song Healy practically screamed. If anyone was getting tired towards the end, they weren’t after this incredibly loud song. For the entirety of the song, extremely bright white and yellow strobe lights flashed. I had to cover my eyes due to the lights but I wish I had two extra hands to cover my ears. Then the lights came on, no confetti, no encore, the show was just over. As the band’s last tour, you would think there would at least be a short encore, or anything to end the show on a high note other than Healy screaming into the microphone.
The band also left out some of their major hits: “Chocolate” and “The Sound.” It’s The 1975’s last tour, so why would fan favorites be left out of the setlist? It left fans in Section 117 confused, including myself.
Other than the last song, the night was quite enjoyable, and if I had the chance to learn more songs before attending, I would go again. It wasn’t just a concert of people playing instruments and a guy singing, it was confusing, intriguing, annoying, emotional, fun and entertaining.
by EMERSON KIBBY
