The 1975 | Vancouver

For as long as I can remember, music has always been a persistent and vital part of my life. Whether it be the early days of Britney and Backstreet, to the angsty punk rock tunes of my teenage years, all the way to the more eclectic mishmash of what it is today — music has been, and still now proves to be quite the constant.

With that in mind, it is no surprise that going to concerts and hearing the songs that have soundtracked every possible mood and moment in my life is one of the things that make me feel the most alive. Surely, feeling like this kind of limitlessness on this Earth is few and far between, and seeing The 1975 the second time in my life was no different.

The first time I had ever seen The 1975 was at the Vogue Theatre in April of 2014. After running into the band's saxophonist, John Waugh, everything afterwards — from the start to end of the gig — was nothing short of stellar. Even the openers (Sir Sly and Bad Suns) were acts that I was wildly impressed with. That radical night came and went, and almost 2 years later to the dot, I was headed to see them again. This time, it was at a much larger venue with a reinvented sound that remained persistently and quintessentially 'the 1975.'

Not being in general admission for the show in such a large venue enabled me to take in the gravity of the palpable excitement that filled the air. The mass of people in front of the stage and on all surrounding areas back-dropped by the harsh spotlights was a standout sight I'll likely never forget (mostly for its resemblance to an archetypal zombie apocalypse scene). Now admittedly when the band first released the first single (Love Me) off the new album (with the so-ridiculously-long-it's-actually-brilliant title), I was a bit worried. I had loved the sound of their debut album much too much that hearing the new groovier sound was daunting. I waited with bated breath for the following singles and luckily enough, they did not disappoint and maintained the integrity of their music style. To this day, Love Me remains probably my least favorite song out of the new album; however, not even I could deny its solid aptness as a first song. It genuinely felt like the band exploded onto the stage as soon as George hit the drums following the first few sounds of the guitar that had everyone buzzing.

Taking a quick break from the musicality of it all, I'd like to acknowledge and affirm the stage and lighting crew for the show because well, wow. I was very much so into the stylistic black and white that juxtaposed the band's sound from the very beginning. Along with the release of the new album though, came the infusion of pinky hues. Naturally, being the fearful-of-change type of person that I am, I was a tad (read: a lot) apprehensive. However, being immersed in the wavelengths of color that danced in perfect synchrony with the music, I pretty much forgot why I was apprehensive in the first place. 

 As for the band itself, there are no words that could encapsulate the energy that they were giving off. How is it that they embody an effortlessly cool persona while fueling a fun 80's party atmosphere? Whatever it is, it's the perfect kind of balance you'd want at a gig. I mean, really, few artists have made me appreciate, much less think that saxophone solos could be wildly cool. (Go, John!) 

I'd list my favorite songs to have heard live, but surely my classic indecisiveness paired with the killer set-list would mean that this post would go on forever. So with that in mind, I thought I'd just list some of my most memorable moments from the show: 

Honorable mention: hearing You played live again. Unarguably one of my favorite songs out of their entire discography. Mostly because of the guitar and how it pulls on certain heartstrings of mine. To put it simply, the song takes me places. 

3. Hearing A Change of Heart live for the first time. This song was one of the first few that I heard off the new album (back when the release was eons away and I listened to the song via other people's concert footage when they band was still testing out the waters). To this day, the song remains one of my favorites off of the record. There's something so delightfully poignant about Matty ever so literally revealing his change of heart by way of allusions to his older lyrics and altering those. (Sidenote #1: if you haven't seen the music video, do watch it. Fair warning, it involves black and white clowns, and oddly enough got me quite emotional) // (Sidenote #2: I did a shoddy job at recording this song at the show, but I did it anyways; here's the link)

2. Seeing the two older men two rows below grin widely and high-five each other when Matty said that the next song was Paris. Something about this exchange keeps replaying in my head, and it makes me so so happy regardless of whatever the reasoning was for their giddy excitement. 

1. No doubt this last favorite rightfully is in first place; ultimately, because I live for these moments. Moments where you feel like you're floating amidst a mass of hundreds or thousands of other people who are experiencing the same thing as you. Moments where you're not thinking about your past, your anxieties or your seemingly never-ending to-do list. Moments where you're here. You're present in the now... and then suddenly, for a split second, you catch someone's gaze: another soul across the venue or one of your friends standing next to you and then you share that moment of being present together. Time slows and the music sounds like your listening to it underwater, and reality is altered for a moment. It's difficult to do the feeling justice when attempting to translate it into words. Either way, I hope you've experienced it and that you know what I mean. If not, I sincerely hope that you stumble into something like it in the future. After it's happened, you'll know it in your bones that it's something special. 

Wow, I honestly didn't expect this post to be so long. If you've made it all the way through, I'm forever grateful for your time. I'm fiercely sentimental so I guess this was my way of attempting to bottle up the experience so that I could indulge in it in the future when I'm feeling nostalgic. So for whatever reason that made you stay and keep reading, I hope you've enjoyed it.

Stay gold,

Kimberly