There’s something about music that can bring people together. It can set the mood, add white noise to a study session, relax oneself, or pump up a party. It can heal, it can repair and it can mend. Music can speak volumes.
This was my experience when I attended The 1975 concert.
I knew I was in for something big when we entered the building, only to see that the line spanned from the doors to the auditorium all the way around the building. We stood in line, hot and sweaty with what seemed to be about a million other people. We waited with curious anticipation for what was to come.
As soon as the doors opened, people flooded in, trying to find the perfect spot on the floor to see the band make their grand entrance. Two opening acts later, The 1975 opened with their first song they debuted after being silent for months, “Love Me.” I’ve been to quite a few concerts, but had never felt such an overwhelming sense of joy and excitement from an entire room of fans.
I saw fans screaming, some crying and some so overwhelmed they didn’t know what to do. There were moments where people rested their hands on top of their head, too tired to continue waving them in the air but so in awe that they felt putting them down wouldn’t be right. I noticed at certain points that I was so amazed, I stopped singing. I just wanted to stand and listen while they performed. Such a sensation has gone unmatched at any other concert.
It’s truly remarkable that music can bring out such emotions and actions in people. I have never been a person who thought that crying at a concert could be justified – until I witnessed it for myself. It was then that I realized, there was no other reaction that would have released the overwhelming happiness those who cried had. They felt so much for The 1975’s music, they couldn’t express how they felt any other way. For a band to form a string of notes and lyrics together that could make any one person so emotional is still astonishing to me.
It wasn’t just the emotions though that amazed me at this concert. It was also the way that this band could connect with its audience that left me speechless. At one point, Matt Healy made everyone put their phones away, stating that the next few minutes with each other, just enjoying the song would be much more potent than a video. As I looked around the room, not one person disobeyed his request. Many even took out lighters, real lighters, just like in the 70’s and 80’s before cell phones were really a thing.
Matty also smoked cigarettes on stage and had a glass of wine brought to him. When the audience murmured about it, giggling that he would do such a thing, he brought his finger to his lips in a joking manner as if to say, “Shh, just don’t tell.” Nobody seemed to mind however because this showed just how true to themselves The 1975 were. They weren’t going to change in front of an audience. It felt like we were sitting in a small bar somewhere, just listening to their music. Even as this band rises to fame, they remain very humble and it shows at their concerts.
By the end of the night, I felt as though I was standing in a room full of thousands of my closest strangers. It’s hard to explain the feeling of sharing a common interest with so many people you’ve never met and connecting on a level that seems impossible. It’s something I’d only ever touched the surface of before that night. I may never scream the lyrics of all my favorite songs with these strangers again but I’ll remember what I took from this concert forever.
