You’ll know when Matt Healy’s around – he’s back with the same old sound, writes Miriam Balanescu

This summer has seen back-to-back events taking place within the grounds of Finsbury Park – from Pulp joined by Wet Leg, to Wireless Festival – resulting in the closure of the park and drawing the ire of many locals.

Earlier this month, The 1975 had their very own one-day festival at Finsbury Park – cooking up a musical extravaganza, the line-up boasting indie gem (and TikTok gold) Cigarettes After Sex, plus bands on the rise like The Japanese House and Pretty Sick. Each brought very different vibes to the mix, but each had a kind of tough and honest musical integrity, characteristic of the indie world. Cigarettes After Sex in particular have such an unwaveringly distinctive sound – and so it’s a joy to see them take off, completely without design, in the commercial sphere.

The 1975’s decision, then, to pack a tracklist of their cringiest love songs into the first half of their performance (and a fair portion of the second) was quite a contrast. While the previous five acts had had the stage clutter-free, an over-elaborate set design was constructed for Matt Healy’s performance – including multiple stacked vintage television sets, sofas, a piano. He staggered around this, clutching a prosecco bottle, with what he probably imagined was irresistible charm. The set design was probably a good fit, though – this performance was probably more theatrics than music.

After a simperingly soppy first half – during which he got his actor-dad Tim Healy on to sing a number – Matt decided it was time to get real, addressing recent controversies and defending the band’s “irony”, while eventually concluding: “I’m f*cking proud of myself.” “Let’s hear it for me,” he urged the crowd. A set design and costume change ensued, during which The 1975 switched to their more goth personas – like a terrible two-facedness.

While the band undeniably have some good tracks in their roster (‘Give Yourself a Try’, or even, while overplayed, ‘The Sound’), Matt seems to not be able to let the music stand on its own. He was getting up to all kinds of antics, including climbing the roof of the set, wearing an oxygen mask during the intro to one of the songs, and eventually ending by doing push-ups, gnawing on a chunk of raw meat, before climbing through one of the multiple TVs.

I left feeling unconvinced about whether it’s really a good idea having gigs like this in a public park – preventing locals from using it. And it’s something the council clearly feels the need to defend – even to the 45,000 people who were coming from elsewhere in the UK. On entrance to the park, large posters were up advocating for events in local parks and explaining why they’re ‘good’ for local people. But there’s clearly a wider problem than just closing off the park itself. After the concert, all 45,000 were funneled down Seven Sisters Road (which had been closed), trapped between metal security fencing. The management of the events is clearly not working – and the fact that it was all for Matt Healy makes it seem really not worth it.

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