The four-piece band from Manchester emerged onto the UK music scene with their banger The City in 2012. Since then they’ve earned their place on the global arena circuit.

I caught them in Birmingham for what was to be a night of unparalleled awe for the eyes and ears.

The support acts Pale Waves and No Rome got the crowd going, but all eyes turned to the stage and screams erupted from the cavernous arena’s interior as The 1975 strutted on with swagger reserved only for the most self-confident musicians.

The band proceeded to launch into arguably the best song of their latest record, Give Yourself a Try, with their signature synth-heavy and hard-to-pin-down indie/pop/rock/electro pulsating through the sea of fans.

With the lyrics of the song offering advice such as “growing a beards quite hard, and whiskey never starts to taste nice”, it was well heeded, given the average age of those in the standing area was about 18.

Then came smash hit TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME, with an intro sounding like a herd of intergalactic elephants. I found it pretty hard not to start toe tapping, and before long I was jumping around like a pogo stick and launching into their chorus. As the gig progressed, they mixed up their new album with some of their older songs, which got everyone chanting in unison.

Matty Healy has time to engage in some banter during the set, notably calling a couple to the front – the man having just proposed to his girlfriend (although it’s a wonder he was able to get her attention down on one knee, given the engaging performance).

Between each tune, the dynamic set evolved to suit the mood, be it black and white for their more sombre beats, and their characteristic pink hue and rainbows for upbeat songs. They even had Matty walking down a sleepy American street for Sincerity is Scary, complete with travelator so he didn’t stroll off stage.

The intense backlighting captured the atmosphere and the scenery gave the performance another dimension, including huge hollow squares lowered from the ceiling for every few songs (and I couldn’t help but imagine the band getting squashed if the set team let out too much chain).

They encored with Sex, which prompted the teenage mass to create a series of mosh pits and throw themselves at each other – before it was finally over,

It was a truly attention-grabbing performance, with most of the house on their feet from start to finish and every lyric sung 15,000 times!

ALISTER HENDERSON 5/5