Arriving at London’s infamous Brixton Academy (a favourite venue of mine), I knew that I was going to witness something special. Having been to all three of The 1975’s sold out London residency it’s fair to say they certainly saved the best for last.

We got into the venue very quickly (thank God for the O2 priorities queue) and the first support were on in no time. Opening the show was Wild Cub from Nashville, playing their first ever London show. Their music is feel good and incorporates different sounds that fit together perfectly, resulting in a crazy yet wonderful sound. They dedicated ‘Thunder Clatter’ to a friend that had passed away the previous night, pulling on the heartstrings of all 5000 fans. I was impressed although I struggled to hear the vocals over the drums until about half way through.

Up next were London based Wolf Alice, who always put on a good show. They played the well known number such as ‘Bros’ and ‘Blush’ in a brilliant performance despite the somewhat lackluster crowd. Special mention goes out to bassist Theo Ellis’ pink fluffy guitar strap, showing me that the band really knows how to accessorize. Overall they were great, just unlucky enough to be stuck with a boring crowd. It would be no surprise to see Wolf Alice headlining this venue in a year or two so hopefully they will reap their rewards then.

Opening with ‘The City’, The 1975 managed to inspire movement in the crowd for the first time all night, however due to the slow nature of some of their songs, this didn’t last long. The set was a mixture of songs from all 4 of their EP’s, as well as their self titled debut album. As the set was so diverse, they lost a few people during the slower songs, and instead of singing along, people were checking the time, replying to texts and having their own conversations. Towards the end of the set the band went off stage for a small interval. When they returned to the stage, they came without Matt, leaving everyone slightly puzzled. They began playing ‘Menswear’ and when it was time for the vocals, Matt appeared on the balcony. I thought that this was a particularly nice touch, considering that the people on the balcony usually miss out.

The last three songs were fan favourites ‘Robbers’, ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Sex’ which finally livened up the crowd. Just before they performed their first single ‘Chocolate’ they asked everyone to put away their phones and stop filming, claiming that they wanted it to be like eight mile. This was a highlight for me because there is nothing more irritating than struggling to see over a sea of Iphones. Unfortunately it has become a part of the experience.

Overall the Manchester band had a great stage presence and charisma, although failed to keep the crowd engaged. Things I learnt; the 1975 put on a bloody good lighting show, Teenage girls are very boring and Matthew Healy knows how to make swigging a bottle of wine look classy.

Zoe Cameron