The 1975 delivered a career-defining set at Glastonbury Festival on Friday night, paying homage to the band’s past while also building a bridge to its future.
In their first time headlining the festival, the British band debuted brand-new staging — instead of the lived-in house they played in for their boundary-pushing “At Their Very Best” tour. The band performed against a backdrop of several LED blocks, configured around the stage. When the band first walked out in front of the crowed, each block read the band’s name.
The first half of the set saw frontman Matty Healy sporting a leather jacket, white T-shirt and jeans as the band opened with the triple-threat of “Happiness,” “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” and “Love Me.”
Midway through, the stage went dark and a message appeared announcing: “Matty is changing his trousers.” The band then came out in full suits and launched into “I Couldn’t Be More in Love,” before Healy paused to make his most sincere speech of the night, saying that the often controversial band would be taking a break from politics.
“People who are watching this may — I don’t know… They may be disappointed in the lack of politics in this show and our forthcoming shows and probably our future shows. I want you to know that it’s a conscious decision,” Healy began. “We honestly don’t want our legacy to be one of politics. We want it to be that of love and friendship. I’m not trying to be too earnest, but you can go out into the world and there’s loads of politics everywhere. We don’t need more politics. We need more love and friendship.”
“I know that’s really basic, but if you are a young kid and you are inspired by, like, this band or something like that — don’t aspire to play a stage or be a certain size,” Healy continued. “Aspire for this level of friendship and love in what you do and you’ll never fail. And I love you.”
The band then launched into “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)” followed by “Love It if We Made It,” arguably its most political song.
After playing crowd pleasers “Sex,” “Give Yourself a Try” and “The Sound,” Healy confirmed to the crowd that the band “isn’t going anywhere.” After the final track, “About You,” an acronym was displayed — “DOGS” — which was also on drummer George Daniel’s drumhead, potentially signaling a new era.
Consisting of frontman Matty Healy, guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald and drummer George Daniel, the 1975 is gearing up for a new era after its critically acclaimed fifth album, “Being Funny in a Foreign Language,” released in 2022. Since dropping their first EP in 2012, the band has formed a devoted fanbase, with thousands tattooing their signature box logo on their arms. Indie sleaze nostalgia was certainly out in full force on Friday night.
The band is also no stranger to controversy, mostly due Healy’s antics both on and off stage. During the “At Their Very Best” tour, Healy made a habit of snogging various band and audience members during sets. While performing at Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival in 2023, Healy spoke out against the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws and then kissed MacDonald on the mouth. The incident resulted in the cancellation of the three-day festival and the band being banned from Malaysia. Though Healy intended to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in the country, some locals expressed concern that his actions may cause further repression from the government.
Following the incident, a representative for the band told Variety: “Matty has a long-time record of advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, and the band wanted to stand up for their LGBTQ+ fans and community.”
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