Roughly two weeks ago I traveled to Columbus, Ohio, expecting to simply fulfill one of my summer bucket list goals of seeing one of my favorite bands in concert.

Perhaps it was my shortage of research or my lackluster previous concert experience, but whatever the case, I was not at all prepared to indulge in the extraordinary amazement that is The 1975 live show.

The 1975, an alternative rock band formed in Wilmslow, England, performed at the Express LIVE! venue located in the arena district of Columbus, Ohio, on May 22.

The band consists of lead vocalist Matthew Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald and drummer George Daniel.

The concert was part of the first leg of the band’s United States tour for their sophomore album, “I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It.”

With such an ostentatious album title is seems only fitting that the concert experience for the album was equally as over the top — of course in all the right ways.

The 1975 is in no way a modest band and has created an empire of success in being not that.

The flamboyant arrangement of the band is something that has established the “The 1975” name and given birth to a whole new realm of non-genre driven music, fitting for a generation that is composed of non-genre driven adolescents.

The diversity among the songs from the band is beautifully displayed in the live show. The music is transitioned in a way in which the audience hardly realizes that there’s only one song difference between the gospel-infused “If I Believe You” and the harsh, guitar heavy “Sex.”

The set list is cleverly crafted so that the audience is too swept up in the experience to notice the stylistic differences of the songs, thus creating the spiritualistic world of The 1975.

Perhaps a majority of the success from the live show experience is due not to the music itself, but from the use of light within the show.

For this tour, the band chose to set the stage with four rectangular LED screen pillars that created a clean and interesting visual appearance.

The classic neon rectangles that are featured as the cover art of the band’s two albums were hung above the stage to establish the famous image that fans are familiar with.

The way in which the band uses the lights to convey emotion within the audience is something that is breathtakingly beautiful and hard to translate into words.

Each song was perfectly accompanied by a series of colors and lights that created an atmosphere and feeling that mimicked the emotion found within the song.

The music paralleled with the visuals, creating a live experience that is impossible to accurately relay into words.

While the light show undoubtedly contributed to the concert experience, the show would be nothing without the creative genius that is ‘Matty’ Healy.

It is no secret that The 1975 is dictated by their vocal front man. Healy is unquestionably the face of the band and the man who gives life to the music in a live atmosphere.

The way in which Healy moves about the stage shows how passionate he is about the work he has created.

He charismatically vibes with the band’s newer singles “Love Me” and “UGH!,” soulfully moves about to serious songs such as “Fallingforyou” and “Me,” and thrashes and jumps about in more demanding songs like “The Sound” and “Sex.”

The way Healy performs the songs during the live show is quite paradoxical in some ways.

The 1975 prides itself in being a band that is in no form simple, yet Healy’s performance is as simple as it gets: a creator and his work in pure authentic form.

The sincerity of the music, portrayed by Healy and accompanied by visual representation, created a concert experience that was in many ways memorable and unexplainable.

With the recent announcement that in December 2016 the band will play their biggest United Kingdom headline show to date at the The O2 in London, the band has plans to expand their visuals and showcase a brand-new set list with songs that have never before been played live.

With the excitement of this news, I can’t imagine what The 1975 could possibly do to top what they’ve already created, but I cannot wait to find out.

OLIVIA BURGER

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