Matty Healy, suit-clad and sweaty as his band The 1975 neared the end of their Summer Sonic headlining set on Saturday night at Zozo Marine Stadium, summed up the audience’s collective mood perfectly.
“I’m so f—ing happy right now,” he said, and the near-capacity crowd roared in response as the group ripped into its final song.
Held concurrently in Tokyo (actually Chiba, but close enough) and Osaka on Aug. 20 and 21 by organizer Creativeman, the first Summer Sonic music festival to take place in three years felt like a major step forward for the country’s live music industry.