THE 1975 BIRMINGHAM + MANCHESTER 25+28TH FEBRUARY 2020

A guy I met in a pub after the Birmingham show wasn't even really a fan of the band, he merely got a free ticket from a mate and decided to give it a go. He said something like 'I wasn't blown away by it, but I can see why it would be a special experience for big fans of em' which describes it perfectly

Know something funny? I never would've seen coming that I was gonna be that excited for a band I actively disliked about a year ago let alone planning to see them four times in the space of under a year. After waiting half a year the Birmingham date came around, the opening 1975 intro began, and 'People' came across the back screen, hearts going mad at this point. Easily their best opener in my opinion, nothing better to get everyone going with the crisp guitar sounds (which sound EVEN better live) and the crowd going mental. The setlist differed a bit from Reading, bringing back MENSWEAR; I've never heard a group of people scream so much and I don't blame em, worth the 1+ minute intro. The new singles off Notes sound incredible live (unsurprisingly) with The Birthday Party's strange, yet humorous visuals and Guys which honestly got me I can't lie to you. One of the highlights for me though personally was the new song they dubuted at Nottingham 'If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)' which amazed me not just by how catchy, and '1975' the song sounds, but the fact that despite it not even being released, half the fan base (including myself) already know the lyrics just from youtube, good shift boys. A special moment during the set came when Matty decided to scrap 'You' (on the printed setlist) for 'Be My Mistake', asking the crowd to put away phones/cameras and merely enjoy a moment together, something I'll never forget. This and 'I Always Wanna Die Sometimes' was one of the times during the set where it felt like a community, the concept of a whole crowd of people being in the same place, for the same reason is pretty simple one but a special one at that. Moving over to Manchester (which we somehow got tickets for) they swapped in 'Milk' and 'Girls' (for the first time on the tour) which was even made Ross smile, that's how good it was. If I HAD to point out any negatives I'd probably pick the inclusion of 'Lost My Head' and 'Somebody Else', the first being merely downtime and the second a bit overplayed recently (good song though)

Overall, it's a band whether you love or hate to be honest, but I think even for non-fans the live experience, even just for the visuals is something to give a go if you can. If you're a massive fan, you need to see them at least once, it'll honestly be the best night of your life (assuming you haven't seen them already, but even then).