On the approach to the Edinburgh Corn Exchange last night one would have been excused for thinking you were wading through the remnants of a music festival – drunken, sodden, stragglers were surrounded by old quilts, broken umbrellas and camping chairs, hats, gloves, bottles and rubbish. Hard-line The 1975 fans would appear to have shed their accoutrement in haste having been in situ for some time in anticipation of securing a place front and centre.

Ten minutes shy of stage time chants of ‘Matty, Matty, Matty fucking Healy’ abound. I’ve never understood the phenomenon of this chant which makes me cringe no matter what the focus – but I wondered whether Matthew Healy, front man, would appreciate it.

The screaming is deafening as The 1975 take to the stage amidst four pillars adorned with screens, a large backdrop screen plus three further lighting rigs on the roof. Kicking off with ‘Love Me’, the current single (which I mistook for an old Duran Duran track when playing in the background recently), it would appear the whole venue is bouncing to these new sounds. Healy really does look as if he is asking each and every person in the crowd to ‘Love Me’ on each chorus. Girls and boys sit aloft on shoulders already – not something I’ve witnessed at the Corn Exchange before.

Following up with ‘Heart Out’, it’s becoming clear this audience knows their lyrics. I don’t think I’ve experienced a similar female cacophony since Robbie Williams circa 2003. The first appearance of the saxophone for the evening comes towards the end of the track which, if I am correct, has been ramped up compared to the album track. The sax is to be a prominent feature of the evening.

The new visual stage show starts coming into its own with ‘Settle Down’, the pillars of light appearing to fade between 2D and 3D. Healy’s physical presence dominates the stage, his flowing mop of curls becomes like a fifth member of the band. Guitarist Adam Hann is the only other member of the band to traverse the stage but not until later in the show.

When Healy addresses the audience for the first time, as you could expect, it’s a safety please for everyone to take two steps back. The stage explodes into a world of static and glitter thanks to the screens for ‘So Far’. The girl besides me sings every word of the song. The chanting returns before ‘The City’. They almost look like a different band for this track, just rocking out more, less staid.

More tracks from their debut album The 1975 ensue. They play ‘HNSCC’, which I hadn’t heard before, a short, haunting, experimental, instrumental track (a google search tells me the abbreviation is of a cancer name which Healy’s grandmother had).

Healy tells the crowd they would love to play the new album in full but feels that would bore everyone. ‘Change of Heart’ is the most minimal of songs so far in the evening with Healy salsa dancing around the stages, wine in hand, theatrical, arms outstretched. He reminded me of the last drunken lady on the dancefloor at a Christmas party. The track is synth-heavy but the band play as if like they’ve been playing this song for years. Healy finally seems to have enough of the chanting of ‘Matty, Matty, Matty fucking Healy’ and tells the crowd to shut up.

‘She’s American’ another new track follows, with frenetic guitar and a continuing saxophone onslaught, it’s the bouncy 80s vibe pop we’re used to from The 1975.

The next time Healy addresses the crowd it’s another plea, to look after phones as pick pocketing has recently become a significant problem at the venue and for the crowd to lay down their phones. He says ‘…those of you who haven’t seen us before will only ever have seen us on a screen… if you’ve not seen us before stop looking at us through screens. Put your fucking phones away. This song is about me.’ As he sings ‘Me’, Healy smokes a cigarette on stage, not something you see commonly at gigs these days. This is a more sombre track with an introspective feel. Lyrics like ‘I was thinking about killing myself’ put an ocean between this song and their most popular tracks.

Healy says Edinburgh has been his favourite gig so far, 2 weeks in to a 2 year long world tour and he says he means it and that he’s not being ‘sycophantic’, no doubt his tongue is firmly lodged in his cheek.

The third new track of the evening ‘Somebody Else’, starts like many other The 1975 tracks, a slow burner that picks up and gets increasingly funky. The fourth ‘The Sound’ is an upbeat echo of their previous pop hits and a sure fire hit from the new album, due out in February ‘I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It’.

It’s a relief to see the crowd simply enjoying themselves and bouncing along, less cameras aloft and less screaming an overdue guitar solo helps add credence to the tune. This is short lived as ‘Robbers’ erupts and then the crowd do…on more than one occasion in the evening I think to myself – haven’t they played this track before? But I am mistaken.

For the encore a topless Healy and the rest of the fully clothed band are set against the backdrop of a night time cityscape, I am guessing LA. They play the remainder of their ‘hits’ amidst a frenzied crowd. Healy leads the crowd in a chorus of ‘Here we, here we, here we fucking go’, perhaps by way of apology for his lack of appreciation of the early chants he was at the centre of.

I’ve seen many bands who, having only released one album struggle to deliver a 45minute show of robust content. The 1975 have been called the hardest working band in the UK in the past two years. This show proves it. The new album is reported to have around 20 tracks on it. Healy’s reported desire to act as a leader for young women and to also become a legendary artist and performer might sit at odds with some of the music he plays and indeed some of the comments he makes. At 26 years old he’s certainly establishing himself as a flamboyant front man, amidst some well-publicised scrapes he seems to be keeping himself afloat in the world that often concurs so many young musicians. Continuing to write and the band appear to be key to this, creating the support, structure and platform required to succeed. I’ll be interested to see how things go for a band who, judging by tonight’s performance and reception, could be bound for international fame. Critical acclaim? I’m not yet sure of.

Full set list
Love Me
Heart Out
Settle Down
So Far (It’s Alright)
The City
You
HNSCC
Menswear
Change of Heart
She’s American
Me
Fallingforyou
Somebody Else
The Sound
An Encounter
Robbers
Girls
Medicine
Chocolate
Sex