Still... At Their Very Best Explained

Concert Tour Name:Still... At Their Very Best
Artist:The 1975
Album:Being Funny in a Foreign Language
Number Of Legs:2
Number Of Shows:
  • 33 in North America
  • 27 in Europe
  • 60 in total
Last Tour:At Their Very Best
(2022–2023)
This Tour:Still... At Their Very Best
(2023–2024)
Next Tour:...

Still... At Their Very Best was the fifth concert tour by English indie art pop band the 1975 in support of their fifth studio album Being Funny in a Foreign Language (2022), and a follow-up of their acclaimed At Their Very Best world tour "featuring newly expanded production".[1]

It commenced in September 2023 with a North American leg across arenas in the United States and Canada, marking their biggest tour yet in the region.[2] [3] [4] In 2024, the band staged the world's first ever "carbon-removed" events across their four shows at the O2 Arena in London.[5]

Background

In May 2023, during the band's headlining show at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Scotland, frontman Matty Healy was noted to wear a lab coat with a "Matty" name tag which was a departure from his At Their Very Best tour wardrobe.[6] By June, the band's social media accounts posted promotional materials about a new concert tour including a poster of Healy kneeling on a patch of grass wearing a lab coat.[7]

The fourth episode of the band's A Theatrical Performance of an Intimate Moment short film webseries shows Healy in a laboratory discarding a lab coat with the name tag "Truman Black",[8] a known alias of Healy's, and choosing to wear the lab coat with the name tag "Matty". On 23 September, Healy posted a political campaign-type of video centering on redemption to promote the tour.[9]

World's first "carbon-removed" events

The band's four shows at the O2 Arena in London in 2024 marked the world's first-ever carbon-removed events. This involves CO2 generated by the events – from the light show to the audience – being physically sucked out of the air, as well as more traditional techniques such as planting trees and spreading CO2 absorbing volcanic rock on farmland, where it also acts as a fertiliser.[10]

Concert synopsis

The show, written and directed by Healy, is an expansion of the band's previous tour, reusing the same house-like set design by Tobias Rylander and following a similar premise and two-part structure.[11] Additions to the show include a large LED screen behind the house set that displays concert visuals, as well as a second, smaller stage at the center of the concert venue, which resembles a square patch of grass. After crawling through a television screen on the main stage during the "Consumption" interlude, Healy emerges on the B-stage for the show's middle act (titled "Matty's Nightmare"), where he caresses and lays next to a naked wax replica of himself. The replica is then lowered beneath the stage and replaced with a guitar and microphone for Healy to perform an acoustic rendition of the track "Be My Mistake" from the band's third album, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships. Healy returns to the main stage afterwards to perform the rest of the set, but reemerges on the B-stage during the encore to perform "People", and is sometimes joined by other members of the band.[12] [13]

Some shows contain a second interlude titled "Social Media Pandering Parody", where Healy projects trending news clips onto the screens while reading satirical commentary on current events from a cellphone to the audience.[14] At the October 29, 2023 show in Chicago, Healy ate a prop cellphone onstage as part of the parody segment.[13] Meanwhile, at the October 10, 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas, Healy delivered an impassioned 10-minute speech defending the band's pro-LGBT demonstration during their performance at the 2023 Good Vibes Festival in Malaysia, where they were subsequently banned from performing. Healy particularly criticized the "liberal outrage" against the band after the incident, which he perceived as hypocritical in light of Malaysia's widespread anti-LGBT laws, and further refuted accusations against the band of "cultural insensitivity" and "colonialism", stating, "[liberals'] unconditional belief in inclusivity and tolerance has led them to indirectly support a government which is intolerant of their own existence."[15]

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, and opening act
DateCityCountryVenueAttendanceOpening actsRevenue
Leg 1 – North America[16]
16 September 2023AtlantaUnited StatesPiedmont Parkrowspan="2"
23 September 2023Las VegasDowntown Las Vegas
26 September 2023SacramentoGolden 1 CenterDora Jar
28 September 2023San JoseSAP Center
30 September 2023San DiegoPechanga Arena
2 October 2023Los AngelesHollywood Bowl
5 October 2023GlendaleDesert Diamond Arena
7 October 2023Greenwood VillageFiddler's Green Amphitheatre
9 October 2023Fort WorthDickies Arena
12 October 2023New OrleansSmoothie King Center
14 October 2023AustinZilker Park
17 October 2023MiamiKaseya CenterDora Jar
18 October 2023TampaAmalie Arena
20 October 2023CharlotteSpectrum Center
22 October 2023NashvilleBridgestone Arena
23 October 2023St. LouisEnterprise Center
25 October 2023Kansas CityT-Mobile Center
26 October 2023MinneapolisTarget Center
28 October 2023MilwaukeeFiserv Forum
29 October 2023RosemontAllstate Arena
31 October 2023DetroitLittle Caesars Arena
2 November 2023IndianapolisGainbridge Fieldhouse
3 November 2023ColumbusNationwide Arena
5 November 2023PittsburghPPG Paints Arena
7 November 2023NewarkPrudential Center
8 November 2023BaltimoreCFG Bank Arena
10 November 2023PhiladelphiaWells Fargo Center
12 November 2023BostonTD Garden
14 November 2023New York CityMadison Square Garden
15 November 2023
17 November 2023MontrealCanadaBell Centre
18 November 2023TorontoScotiabank Arena
20 November 2023LondonBudweiser Gardens
22 November 2023Grand RapidsUnited StatesVan Andel Arena
26 November 2023Salt Lake CityDelta Center
27 November 2023BoiseExtraMile Arena
29 November 2023VancouverCanadaRogers Arena
1 December 2023PortlandUnited StatesModa Center
2 December 2023SeattleClimate Pledge Arena
13 January 2024AnaheimHonda Center[17]
Leg 2 – Europe[18] [19]
8 February 2024GlasgowScotlandOVO HydroThe Japanese House
9 February 2024
12 February 2024LondonEnglandThe O2 Arena
13 February 2024
14 February 2024
17 February 2024ManchesterAO Arena
18 February 2024
20 February 2024LondonThe O2 Arena
21 February 2024BirminghamResorts World Arena
26 February 2024LisbonPortugalCampo PequenoBeen Stellar[20]
27 February 2024MadridSpainWiZink Center
1 March 2024ParisFranceLe Zénith
2 March 2024AmsterdamNetherlandsAFAS Live
3 March 2024BrusselsBelgiumForest National
5 March 2024HamburgGermanyBarclays Arena
7 March 2024OsloNorwayOslo Spektrum
8 March 2024StockholmSwedenTele2 Arena
10 March 2024CopenhagenDenmarkKB Hallen
12 March 2024BerlinGermanyMercedes-Benz Arena
13 March 2024WarsawPolandTorwar Hall
14 March 2024PragueCzech RepublicSportovní hala Fortuna
16 March 2024ZürichSwitzerlandHallenstadion
18 March 2024MunichGermanyZenith
19 March 2024MilanItalyMediolanum Forum
21 March 2024FrankfurtGermanyJahrhunderthalle
22 March 2024ColognePalladium
24 March 2024AmsterdamNetherlandsAFAS Live

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Shanfeld . Ethan . 2023-06-13 . The 1975 Announces North American Fall Tour . 2023-06-17 . Variety . en-US.
  2. Web site: Kress . Bryan . 2023-06-13 . How to Get Tickets to The 1975's 2023 Tour . 2023-06-17 . Consequence . en-US.
  3. Web site: Duran . Anagricel . 2023-06-13 . The 1975 announce 'Still ... At their very best' 2023 North American Tour . 2023-06-17 . NME . en-GB.
  4. Spanos . Brittany . Brittany Spanos . 2023-06-13 . The 1975 Are Still at Their Very Best for New North American Tour Dates . 2023-06-17 . Rolling Stone . en-US.
  5. Web site: Dunworth . Liberty . 2023-09-07 . The 1975 to stage world's first "carbon-removed" event at The O2 in London . 2023-09-23 . NME . en.
  6. Web site: Royce . Aaron . 2023-05-28 . Matty Healy Suits Up in Tie, Lab Coat and Laced Sneakers for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend 2023 . 2023-06-17 . Footwear News . en-US.
  7. Web site: The1975: Live on stage in show and concert. . 2023-06-17 . Instagram.
  8. Web site: The 1975's Matty Healy on Michael Jackson, The 1975's first gig and Googling himself . 14 October 2022 . 20 May 2023 . YouTube.
  9. Web site: Bashforth . Emily . 2023-09-23 . Matty Healy announces 'presidential campaign' announcement and fans are baffled . 2023-09-23 . Metro . en.
  10. Web site: Bawden . Tom . 2023-09-05 . The 1975 to stage world's first 'carbon-removed' gig at the O2 Arena . 2023-09-23 . inews.co.uk . en.
  11. Web site: Go behind the scenes of The 1975's ambitious 'At Their Very Best' tour. Nick. Reilly. 27 February 2023. Rolling Stone UK.
  12. Web site: The 1975 "Still… At Their Very Best" Concert Review. Ava. Wilson.
  13. Web site: Unpacking the surrealist introspection of The 1975's 'Still…At Their Very Best' Tour. Julia. Benkendorf. 8 November 2023. North by Northwestern.
  14. Web site: REVIEW: The 1975 are "Still… at their Very Best" - The Miami Hurricane. 30 October 2023. themiamihurricane.com.
  15. Matty Healy Addresses Malaysia Festival Ban & 'Liberals Outrage'. Gil. Kaufman. . 10 October 2023.
  16. Web site: The1975: "'Still … at their very best' North America Tour, 2023" . 2023-06-17 . www.instagram.com.
  17. Mier . Tomás . 2023-10-14 . Paramore, The 1975, The Black Keys Will Rock Out at ALTer Ego 2024 . 2023-10-19 . Rolling Stone . en-US.
  18. Web site: THE 1975 - Tour Dates . 2023-09-16 . the1975.com.
  19. Web site: Jones . Damian . 2023-09-07 . The 1975 add new dates to 2024 UK and European 'Still At Their Very Best' tour . 2023-09-16 . NME . en-GB.
  20. Web site: Been Stellar: "europe w/ @the1975" . 24 Jan 2024. 2024-02-14 . www.x.com.