The 1975: Live at Gorilla // Record Store Day Exclusive Vinyl 2024
Happy Record Store Day! To celebrate the recent ten -year anniversary of their self-titled debut album, The 1975 released a limited edition live album that was recorded in February 2023 at a surprise intimate show in their hometown of Manchester. This is an indie record store exclusive released in April 2024 for Record Store Day, which is an event held twice a year to celebrate independent record stores with dozens of new and exclusive music releases special for the occasion.
So much of this album is inspired by their time in Manchester as teenagers and early 20's, so the setting really is so perfect! With the release of this album in 2013, they became one of the most influential rock bands of this generation. This record is a testament to how far they've come since then, but also a celebration of the musical journey this album took them on as a band.The 1975 is one of my favorite bands of all time, they always have been and always will be. I was lucky enough to see them perform twice over the years, most recently last November in New York City! I have a couple of live albums in my music collection and I just absolutely love listening to them and feeling transported back to those amazing days. They are an incredible live band and I absolutely recommend seeing them perform if you ever have the chance!
Some of these songs on this album are among my very favorites of all time, it's hard to even really narrow it down to just a few. Songs like "The City" and "Chocolate" are what they called "the blueprint" of the band at the time and defined the sonic direction they were going in with their music. Those two songs, along with "M.O.N.E.Y", capture Manchester through their point of view in such a unique way.
Hearing "Robbers" for the first time I think was a universally life-altering experience for any fan of The 1975. It was an instant classic and one that has only gotten better with time. The opening guitar riff is beyond iconic and the metaphorical storytelling is one of the major highlights of this album for me. I always love hearing them perform it live, the passion from both the band and the crowd is simply unmatched. After all these years, I finally got to hear it live myself at Madison Square Garden last year (for some reason, they didn't perform it at the 2017 show I went to). It was such a surreal moment and hearing it live on this vinyl brought back so many memories of that night.
In this live recording of the album, you can really feel all of the high energy and emotions captured from the show that night in Manchester. I really loved the final song on the album called "Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You", even though Matty may have not remembered all of the lyrics to that song, all of the intense emotions were still ever present. It is such a special way to end the album.
I love the minimalist design on the cover, it's a really cool reimagining of the classic black and white neon box on the original album cover. For how simple the design is, it really is so synonymous with The 1975 and instantly recognizable for their aesthetic. It features two white discs and was limited to just 7500 copies worldwide.
If you look closely, there is also a special message etched into the record near the center label too. I love that small detail on the record, a lot of my vinyl from The 1975 includes etchings like that too. I couldn't include a picture of it because it is only visible if the light hits it just right, but it says "live on stage in show and concert", which was the tagline for all of their 2022 and 2023 shows.
I absolutely love this vinyl and am so happy to have it in my record collection! This was the record I looked forward to the most at this year's Record Store Day ever since it was announced. It was among the very last ones at my local record store, so I was very happy to be able to grab a copy before they sold out! I will always have a special place in my heart for this album and all of the memories associated with it.
Check out my full review of The 1975's debut album!
Comments
Post a Comment