Being the support act for a band such as The 1975 is every up and coming artists dream. However, for the 19-year-old Filipino-British singer-songwriter Beabadoobee, this dream has become a reality, as she joins the Manchester band on their February UK tour. An artist described by Matty Healy as “the most exciting thing in rock music,” Beabadoobee seemed to be the perfect act to support The 1975 as they looked to take the Leeds First Direct Arena by storm.

Beabadoobee kicked off their set with an almost grungy sound by opening with ‘Are You Sure’, the first track on her EP, Space Cadet. Throughout their 35-minute set Beabadoobee performed an array of different songs ranging from slower indie-rock ones to more upbeat pop-rock sounding songs. However, despite playing to an almost full crowd, it was clear that the audience were not there to see Beabadoobee. The 1975 was unmistakably what the crowd had come for, resulting in not many people knowing Beabadoobee’s songs. With the exception of when the audience lit up the arena with their phone torches during ‘Disappear’, the overall atmosphere for Beabadoobee’s set was rather disappointing. However, this should not come as a surprise. Beabadoobee was performing as a support act, and thus it would be unfair to have expected her to gain the same enthusiastic reaction that she usually receives at her own shows. 

By taking this into consideration it is hard to flaw Beabadoobee’s set. It was clear that the production team had put a lot of work into this set, as both the levels and lighting choreography were done do an extremely high standard. As well as this, Beabadoobee seemed confident and looked as if she was enjoying her time on stage. Despite the crowd not being the most enthusiastic, the fact that she still managed to get them to hold up lights during even one song is quite an achievement for a support act in any case. Beabadoobee finished her set off with the single ‘She Plays Bass’ before passing the stage over to the much-anticipated Manchester band. Overall, I believe Beabadoobee gave an incredibly professional performance and warmed up the stage nicely for The 1975. 

Header by Jordan Curtis Hughes for Fader.