Matty Healy eating raw meat was cut from the Australian Leg of The 1975’s world tour. A confusing sentence if you haven’t heard of the band’s front-runner’s speculative media persona.

With hundreds of fans lining up at Rod Laver hours before show time, Healy’s continuous controversies headlining the media and an international tour titled ‘at their very best’, one hopes that the show is better than good. The 1975s band members consist of bassist Ross MacDonald, lead guitarist Adam Hann, drummer George Daniel and on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Mathew Healy. First performing in 2014 at the iconic Melbourne venue, the Northcote Social Club, The band has certainly displayed a humbling evolution of their success on the global stage.

The show was reminiscent of their former performances and yet managed to hold an essence of something completely different. Past performances were fuelled by flashing lights, screaming fans, and attacks on people’s auditory and visual senses. This performance maintained past grandeur, with Healy’s stage presence and charismatic flare still intact, if not, a little more subdued.

Thousands of fans were still screaming out the setlist of old tracks like Sex and shiny new tracks like I’m in love with you. It’s just a shame that Australians didn’t get to see the raw meat eating and the phenomenal set design of a deconstructed house from the Madison Square Garden performance.

The 1975’s latest album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, continues to work on ‘era’ based innovation. The musicianship exhibits the same 2013 synth-pop attitude, with lyrics lined in comedic metaphor and unabashed vulnerability. The boys seemed to have removed teen-angst and replaced it with seeds of hope for future optimism. The show was a display of their continuous push against the boundaries of their commercialised alt-pop genre.

The 1975’s core feels more refined and mature, perhaps even wholesome. Matty was on his best behaviour, with no controversy in sight and a show that was well deserving of it's title.

Photographer: Jordan Curtis Hughes