Concert Recap: The 1975

BY: CAITLYN JENKINS

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I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It.

“Third times the charm” is a very popular saying, and after experiencing The 1975 in concert for the third time, I truly understand it. (Although I have to say all of their concerts were amazing.)

I was a little on the edge about this tour, and whether or not I wanted to go, considering I had previously seen them a couple of times and I didn’t listen to them as heavily as I had a year or so ago, but as it got closer to the date and I saw pictures from their set posted on social media I realized how badly I actually wanted to go.

They played in Atlanta on November 22, at the Fox Theater. This venue was a perfect fit for The 1975, and the seats ended up being way better than I was expecting. I was a little far back but right in the middle, I could see the stage perfectly and it was also fun being right next to the sound guys.

When the concert started, a DJ came out and played a lot of fun songs to get the crowd hyped up for the opening act. He even played “Don’t Play” by Travis Scott for “the real 1975 fans” since it has a sample of one of their popular songs, M.O.N.E.Y in it. Then the opening act, 070 Shake, came out. She was very talented, and fun to listen to. It was definitely not what I was expecting based on previous opening acts hosted by The 1975, but the fact that they chose a unique artist made it all that more exciting. After 070 Shake finished, the lights came back on for a little bit until finally, The 1975 came out.

The 1975’s set is by far one of the most beautiful I have ever seen out of the numerous concerts I’ve been to. They changed it with every song and making the background fit the vibe of whatever song they were playing. There were a lot of pink and purple tones, but they made a unique new set for every song. There was also a lot of glowing rectangles, of course.(pictures in slideshow above)

As for their performance, they did not disappoint. I was a little skeptical about how it would be since I had not seen them ever perform anything outside of their debut album, but they made a new concert experience while simultaneously keeping the personal, intimate feeling that made me love their previous concerts. It was nice for someone who saw them perform before they got super big to see Matty Healy (lead singer) do some of his usual moves like his infamous hair flip and dancing on top of George Daniel’s drum set.

They played about 9 0r 10 of their old songs, which I really appreciated. I was especially excited to hear Milk live, because I have personally declared that song to be the most fun to hear/dance to in concert. (I definately lost my breath and made the sound guys give me some weird looks during this one). They also played some of their most famous songs from their self titled album like Girls, Sex, and Robbers.

Hearing the new songs live was very exciting, especially keeping in mind that this was a repeat concert for me. I love hearing the way that bands develop over time, and this band has definitely grown not just in fan base, but in musical style. Some of my favorite performances from their newest album, I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It, were Ugh!, She’s American, Somebody Else. When The 1975 came back out for their encore, Matty made a statement about how it was a weird tradition that bands pretended to leave like they weren’t going to play their most famous songs, which was funny to me. They ended with The Sound, which although was unexpected was a very good closing song.

The 1975 know how to perform and make everyone in the room feel connected. One song that was not on the set-list was Fallingforyou, which was actually a surprise that the band planned out. Right before, everyone was told to sit down, stay quiet, put their phones away, and to just experience the moment as your present self, not your future or past self.  This moment was very special for me, considering this is one of my favorite songs. The 1975 knows how to create a moment and a memory.

Even though I had mixed feelings about seeing The 1975 again, I am very glad that I decided to and think everyone should take the opportunity to see them if it ever comes up.

My Music Related Tattoos

BY: CAITLYN JENKINS

SHAKE ME DOWN

I had been 18 for about 8 months when I decided I wanted a tattoo. I’ve always loved the idea of them, but never was sure of what I wanted, or where I would even get it. Plus, there was the whole living under my parent’s roof thing to worry about.

When I finally decided to get one, I thought about it for a while. Then, it came to me. I have always had a special connection with music. It speaks for me when I can’t, brings me out of bad moods, inspires me, and is background noise to the best moments of my life.

The first music-related tattoo I got was my very first one ever, and it came from one of my favorite bands: Cage the Elephant. At that time of my life, I was listening to them every single day, non-stop. I had always loved the lyrics “Even on a cloudy day, I’ll keep my eyes fixed on the sun.” and had even considered getting this tattooed before. I didn’t really want a tattoo that big, though, especially for my first one, so instead I decided to go with the name of the song: Shake Me Down.

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I did my fair share of research on this song before getting it permanently written on my body. There is a lot of debate on what this song really is about. The most popular seem to be that Matt Schultz (lead singer of Cage the Elephant) wrote this song about his struggles throughout his life, one possibly being drug addiction and how he is going to try to focus on the positive. The great thing about music, though, is that it’s open to interpretation. To me, this song is about not giving up, and always looking for the positives no matter what is going on in your life.

Some people look at it at first glance and don’t understand why I have these words tattooed on me, mostly because they don’t know the song, but every time I see it I know exactly why I got it and why it means a lot to me. Besides all that, it’s a great song and a great band. I’ve always joked that if I meet Matt Schultz I’m getting him to autograph underneath it so I can get that tattooed, so we will see how that turns out.

PRETTY.ODD.

This tattoo was a concept I had wanted for a while. Before getting my tattoo of a quote from Fight Club, I almost got one very similar to this but changed my mind shortly before. When prompted by my friend to get a flower tattoo, the idea quickly came back to my mind.

Pretty.Odd. is the name of Panic! at the Disco’s second album. It has a vibe similar to the Beatles, which it should be considering it was inspired by them. Ever since I first listened to this album, I have loved the title. I don’t know exactly why, but I love how it’s somewhat of an oxymoron. I know “pretty” is not meant to be taken in a way that means beautiful, but rather as an adverb describing odd, but I still liked the idea that something could be beautiful, and different.

One thing I have learned throughout my life is that being odd and weird is something you should embrace. It’s okay to be yourself, and it’s okay if being yourself means being different from others. This album name projects that idea to me. When I see it, I think of how different everyone is, how different situations can be, and how weird the world is, but how beautiful it all really is. Pretty.Odd has some of my favorite PATD songs including Northern Downpour, That Green Gentlemen, and Nine in the Afternoon. The song That Green Gentlemen actually says the album name in it, with the lyrics “things are shaping up to be pretty odd” and goes onto the chorus to say “things have changed for me, and that’s okay. I feel the same, I’m on my way” and I just really love that idea. Change is good; growth is good.

I decided to get the tattoo underneath a flower because of the cover art and whole feeling of Pretty.Odd. If you don’t know what the cover art looks like, it is covered in flowers, so it only seemed fitting that it would go with one for my tattoo (the flower is also a tribute to a friendship). Panic! at the Disco may seem like another band to you, and the album may seem like any other album, but this band and their music have reached out to me in ways other than just being catchy music and that is why I chose this tattoo.

Twitter: @jenkinscaitiyn

Instagram: @caitlynjenkins

Concert Recap: Catfish and The Bottlemen:

BY: CAITLYN JENKINS

I was going to call this a review, but in all honesty, when it comes to this band I am way too biased.

Catfish and the Bottlemen played the Variety Playhouse, a popular venue in an area known as Little Five Points in Atlanta, on October 26. I had seen this band earlier in September of 2015 when they played at the music festival, well-known by many Atlanta locals, called Music Midtown. I fell in love with this band when they released their debut album, The Balcony, and seeing them perform at Music Midtown only made me appreciate them more. 

When Catfish and the Bottlemen released their second album, titled The Ride, I was a little hesitant to love it at first, because of how great the first album had been. Eventually, I opened up to it (although it still doesn’t compare to the debut album for me) and as soon as they announced their new tour, I jumped on buying tickets. 

The Worn Flints were picked to open up for the band, but in all honesty I got there only towards the end of their set, so I can’t really give an opinion on them. They did seem to get the crowd really enthusiast though, and the lead singer was sporting an “Atlanta vs. Everybody” shirt, which I, as well as almost everyone there, loved. 

Catfish and the Bottlemen came on at 9, which I was pretty happy about as a lot of bands like to drag out when they will make their appearance. The lights turned off, the lighted sign with CATB came on, Van McCann (lead singer) walked out, and the crowd screamed. It was very clear that everyone there really appreciated and were truly fans of the band. They opened the concert playing a popular song, Homesick, off of The Balcony. I thought this was very fitting to the band, considering homesickness seems to be the theme in a lot of their music. They played a lot of songs off the old album, which of course, I loved. I’m sure all the other fans appreciated it too, considering every single person in the crowd, even the dad standing next to me, was singing. They performed many other of their classics, including Cocoon and Kathleen, as well as some of my personal favorites: Business, and Fallout. Obviously, they played songs off of their second album too, some of the most renowned being 7, Soundtrack, and Twice. 

The energy given off by this band, especially Van, is captivating. It was interesting to see Catfish perform at their own tour vs. a music festival. It felt really personal, not just individually, but to Atlanta as a city. One of the best moments of the show occurred when Van attempted to play the song Hourglass by himself with nothing but an acoustic guitar. As he began to play, his guitar malfunctioned. Instead of the concert just pausing, everyone in the venue sang the song, the whole way through, with Van jumping in on the microphone now and then. It gives such a sense of belonging  when everyone in the room is singing along, even without the band performing. It was evident that Van was really appreciative and somewhat surprised that the crowd picked up and finished the song for him, and it was a special moment for everyone. 

One thing that surprised me was that towards the end, they didn’t do the “we are going to fake finish the concert, leave, make you beg for an encore, and then come back” thing. They did take some pauses but they pretty much continued to stay on stage until the closing song, Tyrants, which although I was confused by the song choice, ended up being a great conclusion to the show.

It was an amazing opportunity to get to see Catfish and the Bottlemen again, hear my old favorites, open up to the new songs, and see how they have progressed as a band. I will definitely be buying another ticket to see them next time they make their way back to Atlanta.