The 1975 treats fans to performance of debut album in full at intimate Manchester show

2 February, 2023

The 1975 live at Gorilla, Manchester. Credit: Jordan Curtis Hughes

The 1975 surprised fans in their native Manchester by performing their self-titled debut album in full at an intimate show at Gorilla last night (Monday February 1). Check out photos, footage, the setlist and more details below.

Performing as part of the BRITs Week shows across the UK in aid of WarChild, the band’s long-rumoured gig saw fans clamouring online to get tickets for the show – following on from their acclaimed, sold-out At Their Very Best arena tour.

With a far more stripped back set-up than their recent full house sitcom stage production, the band arrived on stage to debut album opener ‘The 1975’ with frontman Matty Healy clasping a bottle of wine as the iconic ‘box’ artwork from their early years lit up. They then performed their 2013 debut album in full.

After the tour debut of ‘The City’ and performing ‘M.O.N.E.Y’ for the first time since 2017, Healy told the crowd: “Thank you Manchester! We are very, very happy to be here. We’re the 1975.

“Well, we’re from Wilmslow but we’re close enough to say we’re from Manchester. This is very full-circle for us. That song was about this street, let alone this city, so it’s very cool to be here. Thanks so much for coming. There’s no concept, we’re just…here….[We’re] warming back up. Nice to see you guys – I recognise a lot of people here so this is really nice.”

The 1975 live at Gorilla, Manchester. Credit: Jordan Curtis Hughes
The 1975 live at Gorilla, Manchester. Credit: Jordan Curtis Hughes

After the early EP version of ‘Sex’, Healy took a swig from a hip-flask before saying: “Hardcore fans will know what we’re up to right now. I want to remind you that nostalgia is a sickness. This is not nostalgic. We wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t only getting really good. We’re just starting to make our best work, so I don’t mind doing something that’s slightly nostalgic. Because it’s just for us isn’t it?”

After ‘An Encounter’, Healy assured the crowd, “This album…so it still fucking slams.”

After ‘Settle Down’, Healy turned to the crowd to reflect on their early days.

“Maybe I’m getting a bit older, I’m forgetting the lyrics,” he said, joking. “Most of you here know I never knew the fucking lyrics in the first place! I was wasted the whole time. But thanks very much. I mean, this is really fun. So much less pressure!”

He continued: “Have you seen all of the stuff we’ve been doing recently? And so much upkeep! I don’t want to do it anymore. I just want to do this. Alright! So you should know what’s next if you know the album…Got it!”

Comparing the evening to their ongoing arena tour for new album ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language‘, Healy said: “I don’t have any non-conceptual patter or anything. We really just rolled in from the last show so I feel quite…I feel good! I feel naked.”

Spotting a fan with a banner declaring how far they’ve travelled, Healy responded: “You flew in from Boston? Wow! Thank you so much. That’s amazing. Ah, you won tickets? And you came all the way from Boston. Thank you so much, that’s really kind of you. That’s really cool. Anyone else come from far away? I’m not going to try and get a competition going – that’s not going to work. That’s great – someone’s like Lincoln! Alright, cool. I can only respond in a nihilistic way…”

Ending the first part of the album with debut album closer ‘Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You?’ (played for the first performance since 2015), Healy said: “Feelings? Self-indulgent. You guys having a good evening? OK, if you want? We can do whatever! No, no, no – this is not me in character. This is me being normal.”

After his refusal to play fan favourite song ‘Milk’ was met with boos, he replied: “I love booing. It’s not going to work. And I don’t like ‘If I Believe You’. I’m sorry, I don’t like those songs. But you know how fickle and pathetic I am as a human being so I’ll change my mind pretty quick.”

The band then returned for an encore of greatest hits spanning the rest of their career. After ‘Paris’, Healy spoke to bid the crowd farewell.

“This has been fun, hasn’t it?” he said. “It takes a lot for us to do something outside of our established creative boundaries of the time and one of the only things we would do – regardless of the BRITs…the BRITs is great, shout out to the BRITs – but we’re here for Warchild in particular and it’s a charity that’s very, very close to our hearts and some of the stories that you hear are fucking harrowing.

“I think that this is a really really good thing and we should all be…I don’t know, we’re all here for the same reason because we all – including me – love The 1975, but it’s nice that can be [funnelled] into something with a true purpose outside of the unification of culture.”

Healy added: “This is really important shit and they’ve gone from saving 140,000 kids when we did our last show to 260,000 [from the slave trade]. And they should be very, very proud of themselves and they work very, very hard and we’re very honoured to be here. Thank you so much for having our band.”

Check back at NME soon for our full review of the show.

The 1975 played:

‘The 1975’
‘The City’
‘M.O.N.E.Y.’
‘Chocolate’
‘Sex’
‘Talk!’
‘An Encounter’
‘Heart Out’
‘Settle Down’
‘Robbers’
‘Girls’
’12’
‘She Way Out’
‘Menswear’
‘Pressure’
‘Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You’
Encore:
‘It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)’
‘Happiness’
‘If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)’
‘I’m In Love With You’
‘Paris’
‘Be My Mistake’
‘About You’

The 1975 have a stacked year of touring ahead, and were yesterday announced to headline Manchester’s Parklife Festival alongside Aitch, The Prodigy, Fred… Again and many more.

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