LIVE REVIEW - PHOTOS - THE 1975 - Knoxville, Tennessee

The 1975 - Knoxville Civic Auditorium & Coliseum - 11/30/2016 

Considering The 1975’s sonic themes can stray from synth driven Top 40 melancholy to drown one’s sorrows in, to infectious electro-pop that begets listeners to dance their asses off or even to jazz infused orchestral like bombast that your parents would be impressed by, these boys from the UK sure know how to breed a fair bit of divisiveness.

Whether it be the industry press, legions of vehement haters or droves of die-hard fans spanning the globe, the fact is the mere mention of The 1975 often generates a myriad of passionate, albeit discordant opinions.

The vitriol The 1975 can produce is somewhat bewildering as the venom aimed squarely at the band at times seems to be partly rooted in the fact that the lads from Manchester, England climbed to prominence quite rapidly via the same mass devotee engine that served to power the meteoric rise of countless bands dating back to Beatlemania, screaming teenage girls.

Let me be clear before a misguided campaign is launched for the sole purpose of permanently banning this writer from ever so much as contributing even flea collar review to the pages of Cat Fancy Magazine in the future. I’m not attempting to draw any hard parallel lines between the Fab Four and The 1975’s antediluvian musical output or ultimate legacy.

I’m simply attempting to address the fact that there seems to be a segment of the press and public at large that feels quite strongly that the band’s popularity is more of a by product of jail bait lust than the result of the overall musical acumen that clearly exists within The 1975.

Back in 1964 a then uncredited Los Angeles Times music critic wrote about John, Paul, George and Ringo, “With their bizarre shrubbery, the Beatles are obviously a press agent’s dream combo. Not even their mothers would claim that they sing well. But the hirsute thickets they affect make them memorable and they project a certain kittenish charm which drives the immature shall we say, ape.” 

I’m guessing it’s this exact kind of critique that resonates rather easily with most if not all of The 1975’s most hardened detractors. However, I’m going to go out on the proverbial limb here and make the assumption that the majority of those that lay claim to despising The 1975 likely have never properly explored their recorded music nor attended even a single one of the band’s live shows.

Thus I submit for your consideration The 1975’s performance late last month just steps away from the hallowed campus of the University of Tennessee. 

Any band with multiple radio hits under their belt could easily hop up on the lighted stage, deliver a few cliché nods to the audience and perform bare bones, near note-for-note takes of their recorded music to throngs of hyperventilating fans.

Thank God The 1975 are not only smarter but they’re vastly more talented than that. The band effortlessly combined equal parts musical adroitness, astute showmanship, clever pacing and a dazzling video and light display to put on what could only be described as more of an emotionally driven attack on the senses more so than merely just another concert.

Over the course of nearly two hours Matt Healy (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards), Adam Hann (lead guitar, keyboards, synth pads, backing vocals) Ross MacDonald (drums, backing vocals) and George Daniel (bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) mesmerized a surprisingly sparse crowd housed within the confines of the Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum.  

The British quartet with the assistance of brilliant saxophonist John Waugh went on to present the eastern Tennessee faithful with playful takes on radio friendly tracks such as the “Chocolate” and “Sex” from the band’s 2013 self-titled debut, as well “Love Me,” “Ugh, ”“She’s American” and regular show closer “The Sound” all from the band’s recently released sophomore studio effort, I Like it When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It.  

The most ironic thing to come out of The 1975’s discharge in Knoxville though may have been the fact that for all the careful thinking the band clearly put into crafting their unique live show that effort sure seemed to go a bit unnoticed by the Tennessee audience at times.

Several spellbinding saxophone solos by Waugh and periods of acute intensity brought on by the near constant pitching and swaying of emotions being thrust upon the audience by Healy and his fellow band mates from the stage should have polarized any audience.

However, when The 1975 weren’t playing one of their more recognizable pop songs, far too much of the crowd seemed to loose their focus and disengage a bit from the performance, which to be honest, was kind of a shame.

For a band that has been criticized unfairly or not for being benign, forgettable and even boring at times could The 1975’s actual live performance be too sophisticated and musically diverse for some of their core fan base to connect with?

Throughout the duration of the evening Healy and company went on to execute haunting and slightly re-imagined versions of many of their most vaunted songs, however, it was the pace, the mood, the tension and the show’s production values that served to raise the show to enthralling heights.

Case in point, prior to launching into fan favorite, “Somebody Else,” The 1975 slowly built an evocative tautness by playing eerie renditions of two of the band’s more instrumentally oriented tracks “Please Be Naked” and “Lostmyhead.” 

The rising anticipation created by purposefully injecting ominous interludes into their performance was a stroke of genius.  The 1975’s use of this technique designed to actualize deliberate crowd astriction was exactly the kind premeditated calculation that has been used to great effect by some of the most universally revered live acts still touring today. 

Should you choose to question this particular assertion I would simply ask that you attend a Nine Inch Nails or a Tool concert, followed by your taking in a live performance by The 1975.   I have more than a sneaky suspicion you may just end up coming my way on this one.

I believe it would be beyond short sighted to dismiss The 1975 as simply being a poppy UK boy band equivalent to One Direction whose fame clock will remain firmly lateched to their fan bases’ expiration dates as teenagers.

The simple truth of the matter is The 1975 share much more in common with sublimely talented fellow British rock new comers like Royal Blood, Wolf Alice and Foals than far too many folks seem to be willing to admit or should I say concede. 

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All writing and photography courtesy of Robert Forte / 40 Photography

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