20:45-21:15 Pool

Pool is a German band formed by three guys playing guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. They have a great stage presence, which they add up by speaking a rather good French. But their music can speak to you even better, with those clear riffs mixed with some synth electro sounds they’ve got the perfect combination. Some songs have something quite exotic in them. The singer adopts at times a perfect pitched falsetto which clashes in a sweet way with the indie-rock sounds in the background. The drummer at one point says “We’re gonna drop the rock for a while and play something quiet!”. I must admit that for “quiet” I wasn’t expecting those electronic beats but it was cool! Check them out!

 

21:40-22:50 The 1975

So what happens when The 1975, a band from Manchester (UK) hits Les Docks? Well quite a lot. Starting from the entry of the four lads one after the other introduced by a beautiful sax intro. Singer Matt Healy distinguishes himself from the others not only for his impressive mass of curly hair but also because he is very casually holding a bottle of red wine in his hand. No cheering to the audience yet because they break the ice by playing “The City” straight away catapulting everybody into their pop rock sound. The characteristic voice of singer Matt Healy is even more special when heard live and their sound even more rock. The audience feels at ease and jumps with the hands on the air. By the way, I wasn’t expecting a bunch of screamy teenage girls, who, for pretty much the entire concert were holding their smartphones in the air watching the show through their sad small screens, quite annoying if you happen to find one in front of you (which most of the time is highly probable). OK, my rant is over.

Next on the gig menu are “Milk” and the addictive synths of “M.O.N.E.Y.” after which the singer finally says hello to the audience and introduces the band, and the girls’ screams get louder at which point the singer jokes about it as well. At one point the singer, pushed by his British humour, says: “This is the weirdest venue I’ve ever seen! Where you are it’s 30% of the room and I’ve got a lot of space on the stage” the audience burst into a laugh. And when he suggests that people should go on stage the teens in front all scream like crazy. At which the singer, who is exchanging looks with the technician decides it’s better not to. For the next song the singer lights a cigarette and smokes while singing (or sings while smoking?), whatever, even so, the song comes out beautifully. Despite the other members of the band not being very entertaining with the audience, Matt Healy does the public relations for all of them, he is rather a master of funny jokes!

The singer asks who’s already seen The 1975 before and only a few hands raise. After that he asks “So, who has never seen us before?” And all the rest raise their hands. He then says “OK this means you’ve only seen us through screens, television and such. So please put away your fucking phones  for this song!”. He says it they do it, but unfortunately only for this one song, “Fallingforyou”, a beautiful and very quiet song, with choruses behind, which reminds me of Haim’s style. The singer tilts his curly hair with non-chalance, playing it cool. The saxophone played by the adjoined fifth member of the band his back, and soon the indie rock is transformed into a groovy jazz and man it’s truly stunning. They excuse themselves for having had to cancel their show earlier this year and say “But we’re here now!” and Les Docks is filled with screams once again. They end the first part of their show with the tune “Girls”, with with the rhythmic guitar riffs combined with the drums takes us back to the ‘90s music.

They come back for an encore opened by the beautiful “Robbers”, where the whispered opening builds up the rhythm for the refrain. They finally play “Chocolate”, probably their most well-known tune, which with its seemingly happy and repeated guitar strings topped with the witty lyrics, becomes addictive like chocolate is. But it’s not over yet! The end is, excuse me the pun, orgasmic with their song “Sex” closing the set with a crescendo of guitar riffs and drums beats, the light turning red. Cheers for this great gig guys!

 

SETLIST:

1. Milk
2. M.O.N.E.Y.
3. So Far
4. Talk!
5. She Way Out
6. An Encounter
7. Settle Down
8. Heart Out
9. Pressure
10. Me
11. Fallingforyou
12. You
13. HNSCC
14. Meanswear
15. Girls
16. Robbers (encore)
17. Chocolate (encore)
18. Sex (encore)

 

Simona @TakeMe2aConcert