The 1975's Tour Is Now a Travelling Tattoo Parlour

Frontman Matty Healy (and a fan, apparently) got inked at a recent show in Kentucky

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Dec 19, 2022

As of late, a question on the mind of every superfan of the 1975 — and those like this author, who have the stage antics of their North American tour beamed to them online — is, "What will Matty Healy do next?" After all his stage diving, eating raw meat and consensual kissing of bandmates and audience members, the frontman has now upped the ante and gotten a tattoo mid-show.

A popular bit of footage to emerge from the 1975's recently wrapped dates behind this year's Being Funny in a Foreign Language sees Healey slumped on a couch as part of the band's sitcom-home stage set — shirt open more often than not — treating himself to a cigarette and a bottle of wine. Emotional strings are usually playing, and some in attendance can find it to be a powerful sequence.

Now, fan-shot footage that has emerged from the band's December 16 stop in Kentucky shows Healy joined onstage by a tattoo artist, clearly moved enough by the string accompaniment to produce the pneumatic ink machine and get to work.
After stage cameras showed the audience myriad angles of Healy's piece in progress, it was revealed to be a simple script reading, "I'm a man." Later on in the show, a fan appears to join Healy onstage ahead of being tattooed herself.
If you're looking to set up an appointment for a Matty Healy original, you're out of luck in North America. Having ended their North American run on December 17 in Pittsburgh, the 1975 will pick things up again in the New Year on a UK tour leg beginning in January.

Read Exclaim!'s review of the 1975's December tour stop in Toronto.

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