The 1975: At Their Very Best reached the Golden Coast with sold-out concerts at the Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.
The stage resembled the interior of a cozy living room, lit by standing lamps, sufficient seating, and stacked and scattered tvs projecting Putin and news cycles for atmosphere.
The first set highlighted most recent album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, with the latest self-titled track “The 1975,” “Happiness,” “Part of the Band” and the rest. At the conclusion of the album, frontman Matty Healy jumped through a tv set and the lamps shut off.
Part of the Band
Phoebe Bridgers entered through a stage door of the Kia Forum to perform an acoustic cover of “Milk,” before The 1975 returned for the second half of their set, filled with hits from The 1975, I Like It When You Sleep, A Brief Inquiry, Notes on a Conditional Form.
Matty Healy pulled all the stops—eating raw meat, doing pushups and all. During their tender throwback “Robbers,” per performance-history and manic-frontman-energy, Healy brought up a man from the crowd to sit on the couch and occasionally sing along. By the last chorus, Matty was open-mouth kissing the audience-member. He has since stated he will stop kissing the audience, and will likely cycle through kissing band members and crew (the LA show witnessed bassist Ross MacDonald on the receiving end).
Looking for Somebody
Getting the party started, and keeping it going from the crowd, Dirty Hit labelmates BLACKSTARKIDS opened. Pigtails, afros and ski goggles, BLACKSTARKIDS are magnetic performers, blending synth-punk and hip-hop for a new surge of indie. Inspired as much by Missy Elliott as Smashing Pumpkins and N*E*R*D*.
Female singer/rapper TheBabeGabe celebrated a birthday onstage, with big b-day energy on “LOVE,STARGIRL” and “SEX APPEAL.” Singers/Rappers/Bandmates Deiondre and tyfaizon know their roles, adding great balances in rock and rap.
Experience CYBERKISS 2 U* featuring beabadoobee
Photos by Jordan Curtis Hughes
Video by Alyssa Maltese
