The 1975 At Madison Square Garden…Crushingly Awesome

When you’ve been a fan of The 1975 as long as we have, it’s a little more than jaw dropping to walk into a massive venue like NYC’s famed Madison Square Garden and be surrounded by thousands of others who share the same love for a band that just a few short years ago was playing small clubs and minor stages at festivals.

Prior to the show’s start, MSG was buzzing with anticipation. Fans were cheering, screaming, and even a few tears were falling. Then, as the lights dimmed and Matt Healy, Adam Hann, George Daniel, and Ross MacDonald took the stage, the venue became a legitimate roar.

To see so many faces, from all walks of life come together in order to share a mutual love for the musical magic The 1975 brings to the stage was not only heart swelling, but reinforced the power of music, and its ability to create an environment of pure, love, happiness and excitement.

Launching into “Love Me” there wasn’t a body that wasn’t moving, a mouth that wasn’t singing, or a pair of eyes that wasn’t following every tiny move happening on the stage. Moving through their exceptionally catchy catalog of music, the fans proved an everlasting investment as they sung every song lyric for lyric and treated each other with a kind of respect and care you don’t often find at other shows. It’s as if the band has created a loving community that’s taught a great lesson in love, acceptance, comradery, and being true to yourself.

While The 1975 did not disappoint, it was disheartening to see so many fans with their phones in the air, desperate to capture every second to relive later. In today’s age of over sharing and social media, it was a bit sad and ridiculous to see so many watching the show happening in front of them through a tiny screen in their hands.

This was not lost on Matty who took a moment to talk about his own desire to capture moments, but promised if everyone put their phones down for the next song and just enjoy the moment, the memory would be far greater than whatever they had on their phone at the end of the night. Matty’s words resonated with the crowd, and it was refreshing to see the fans making a mental memory instead of a Snapchat story. If only all shows could be like that.

Then in a blink of an eye the hour and 45-minute show was closing out as we sang, “The Sound,” at the top of our lungs and cheered our goodbyes to the boys from Manchester as they exited the stage and on to their next stop.

Suffice to say, we’re already looking forward to the next show, new music, and insanely cool opportunities for the band we’ll never stop loving.