If there’s one thing I took away from The 1975’s set at Boston Calling yesterday, it’s that these guys have a lot of passionate female fans. It’s not shocking, just a bit much, considering the only other time I saw them was during a Fader Fort performance at SXSW last year, back when I just knew them as a promising baby faced band out of England who had a rather catchy tune with “Chocolate.”
It seems as thought the rest of the world has caught on, with underaged female fans being the main attraction. You know the type, the ones that collectively combine to form a giant web of ear-piercing screams that almost overshadow any bit of music that the band may be playing. I’m sure the tumblr collective is on overdrive (it’s a certainty, who am I kidding?)
The thing is, the band have some quality tunes (the aforementioned “Chocolate”, as well as “The City”), with an ability to create a definite 80s romantic atmosphere, even if they suffer somewhat for same-song syndrome.
Towards the end of the set, they brought a lucky female fan up on stage with them, allowing her to sit on the stage while they played a song. Naturally, she mouthed to her friends to take her picture, and went on to take selfies on stage instead of enjoying the truly once-in-a-lifetime moment. This hits on a larger problem about this generation and being in the “now” at live events, but it also says a lot about the fandom of The 1975. Do they really enjoy the tunes, or do they just want to give the members the goggly eyes? It’s probably both.
I feel like their is still an untapped potential to The 1975 that I hope they flesh out to their fullest. As long as they don’t let all the high pitched screams get to them, they will be alright.
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