The 1975 at the Mohegan Sun Arena

By Jessica Braunstein:

For any The 1975 fan, it’s hard to put the experience of seeing the band live into words. The shows are always so full of energy, excitement, and love, and last night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut was no exception.

The night kicked off at 8:00pm, when the opening act, 070 Shake went on. 070 Shake, a hip hop artist from New Jersey got the crowd hyped with songs such as “Honey” and “Bass for My Thoughts.” By 8:30, 070 Shake was off stage and the crowd was buzzing with anticipation for The 1975 to take the stage.

At 9:00 sharp, the lights went out and the crowd went wild. The silhouettes of Matty Healy, George Daniel, Ross Macdonald, and Adam Hann strolled on stage, and suddenly the stage lit up pink as the band opened with “Love Me.” As per usual, the general admission pit was a “Darwinian process” as Matty Healy fondly calls it, and people were jumping like crazy. From “Love Me”, the band went straight into “UGH”.

The live shows are known not only for the amazing music that The 1975 plays, but the aesthetic colors and visuals the stage uses. The stage at Mohegan would change from neon pinks, to teals, to even an orange city skyline during “Medicine”.

To make this tour special, the band is changing the setlist every night, and playing songs they’ve never done before. For the crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena, The 1975 brought “This Must Be My Dream”, “Undo”, and “Lostmyhead” live. To some, hearing these songs live was the highlight of the night, but for others it could have been the monologue Matty Healy gave at one point in the night. He quieted down the crowd, made fun of Brexit, and urged the crowd to vote. “Because, now, everyone who didn’t vote in England feels like an idiot. So go vote, and I’m not saying f*ck Donald Trump. But, f*ck Donald Trump.” The arena went wild at this, and the band started “Loving Someone”, much to the crowd’s delight.

The band also played “Robbers”, “Somebody Else”, “Change of Heart”, and “If I Believe You”, which are always crowd favorites. The band finished with “The Sound”, and during the guitar solo, Healy got the entire crowd to jump, so much the floor of the arena vibrated. The set was over by 10:45, concluding a night everyone is sure to remember.