'I was welcomed into The 1975's 'house' as band brought Still At Their Very Best shows to London's O2 Arena'

London O2 Arena audiences were invited around The 1975's digs this week as the band brought their Still At Their Very Best shows to the iconic north Greenwich venue. 

Having become a familiar part of their latest tour shows, The 1975's house-style stage set felt personal for London audiences as the capital has been a second home for the Cheshire-formed band for many years.

During the show, frontman Matty Healy said as much and gushed about how it felt like he was performing to his city neighbours.

The stage set, which wouldn't be out of place in the city's West End, was on two levels and displays a monochromatic white entryway that leads down to a wooden panelled living room.

Featuring a space for each of the group members to perform amongst homely decor such as plants, book-filled shelving and various vintage-style TVs, drummer George Daniel was set up on the top level of the stage while Matty Healy, Adam Hann and Ross MacDonald took over the bottom half.

The show started in darkness, only lit by an outside streetlight, as audiences heard the sound effects of a car pulling up backstage. The set's front door opened, and in walked the band's guitarist, Adam, who brought light to the stage by turning on various lampshades dotted around.

The set continued to get lighter as the band arrived home and turned on the lampshades in their own sections before they performed their opening song, The 1975.

Throughout the show, the house acted as something of a blank canvas for the stage lighting as it helped showcase tunes from across the band's discography from past to present. While the stage turned pink for their classic 2013 track Girls, it later took on a kaleidoscope of colours for the performance of Too Time from their third studio album, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships.

One stand-out moment saw the lighting resemble a full moon as Matty took to the set's roof to perform the emotive track Me. The singer's shadow merged with the lighting to create an artistic man-on-the-moon visual.

As well as the main stage, the band had a smaller astroturfed platform in the middle of the standing section of the arena, creating a garden.

Fans were first introduced to the green space in a slightly bizarre way as Matty performed I Like America & America Likes Me as he serenaded what appeared to be a lookalike actor who was curled up on the floor while nude. 

Having last seen the band perform live pre covid at the start of 2020, the house-style set was a very welcome return for me after four years.

Filled with nostalgia, the concert's setlist proved the band are still at their very best as it featured tunes I enjoyed in my teenage years as well as more recent ones that have been the soundtrack of my early 20s so far.

Are there any tickets for The 1975’s remaining Still At Their Very Best London O2 Arena shows left?

Fans may still be able to get tickets for The 1975’s remaining shows tonight (February 14) and next Tuesday (February 20) via the O2 Arena’s official ticket partner AXS.

For future shows at the venue Virgin Media and O2 customers can access priority tickets to thousands of gigs and events across the UK, up to 48 hours before general sale. These can be accessed by downloading either the free Priority app on iOS and Android, or for O2 customers texting PRIORITY to 2020.