The Manchester-based pop rock band, currently on their At Their Very Best 2023 world tour in support of their fifth studio album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, makes an anticipated stop in the Philippines on May 3 and May 4, 2023, for two highly awaited shows.
Also featuring Indie/Bedroom Pop singer Wallice, the Los Angeles, USA-based artist performed 10 songs during her opening act for The 1975, Including “90’s American Superstar”, “Best Friend”, “23”, along with others. Upon ending her introductory set with “Hey Michael”, The main showstoppers of the night begin their entrance as Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” resounds in the arena, garnering excitement from the fans of the band. The long-awaited members, Matty Healy, Ross Macdonald, Adam Hann, and George Daniel, launches the night of May 4, 2023, off to a thrilling start with “Looking for somebody (To Love)”.
The band also performed their hit songs “Robbers”, “Somebody Else”, “About you”, among others for their enthusiastic Filipino fans attending the show. After performing “I’m in Love With You”, Matty Healy, the band’s lead singer, guitarist, and frontman— starts reading the signs written by the fans. “Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday,” Matty says, “Couple requests, She’s American request,” Healy gains delighted feedback from the audience upon reading. Matty stops and reads a sign held up, entailing “Surprise song request, pick one.” Matty chooses B first, which is revealed to be “Nana”, followed by C, “Frail State of Mind”.
“Okay, Let us ruminate, Nana and Frail state of mind, that’s two very deep cuts,” Healy announces. “What’s A just by any chance? I’m kind interested in what you wrote.” And to both his and the fan’s amusement, “The City” would be behind it. It is also during this segment Healy states, “I mean, the thing is with Manila, You guys kind of have dibs on the 1975 because you were the first ones to like us. We were bigger in Manila before we were big in the UK.”, which led to the ecstatic cheers and clamor from fans in the crowd. Healy then adds, “Okay, there’s a lot of technical conversations going on in these headphones now so, give us like ten minutes, and we’ll see what we can do for you guys.” And just like that, as per the sign and request of the lucky fan, The 1975 serenades their audience with options A and B, “Nana” and “The City”. The band also performed “She’s American”, much to their fans’ pleasant surprise that night.
Ending the show with the band’s indie-rock, post-punk song, “Give yourself a try”, with its distinct and remarkable guitar riffs, The 1975 wraps up their Day 2 Concert in the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Through the blaring sounds and theatrical fog, “Atpoiam” was flashed on the screen, standing for “A theatrical performance of an intimate moment”, as the members make their noteable exit, marking the conclusion of the show.
This show is presented by PULP Live World, for the two long-awaited and sold-out shows wouldn’t have been possible without them.