Taylor Swift’s “Smitten” Cheers on Matty Healy at 2014 Show: Eyewitness

In 2014, The 1975’s self-titled debut album became the soundtrack to the heady beginnings of a relationship with the man I would later marry.

When it was announced that The 1975 would be coming to the Palladium in Los Angeles in November 2014, we decided to make a night of it. We got VIP tickets and booked a fancy dinner at a fancy restaurant on Sunset Boulevard, right across the street from the venue.

As we entered the Palladium, we checked into the VIP lounge, a large balcony on the right side of the venue. We got there early enough to secure a spot at the railing, so we camped outside and guarded our spot – and our perfect view of the stage – like wolves.

While we were waiting for The 1975, we noticed the crowd below us was acting strangely. Instead of staring at the front of the stage, most of the young women in the crowd turned sideways and looked up at the balcony where we stood, their phones pressed to their faces as they took photos. But from what?

We realized fairly quickly that the objects of their attention were about fifteen feet to our left: Taylor Swift And Selena Gomez.

Due to the curve of the balcony in the VIP area, we got a pretty good view of the couple as they waved and blew kisses to fans below, then turned their backs to the crowd, laughed and enjoyed cocktails with their friends. They were soon joined Ellie Goulding.

Eventually the lights dimmed and The 1975 took the stage. Swift and Gomez went into full fangirl mode, leaning over the railing and screaming along to every song. It was funny watching the fans on the venue floor take turns calling out “scream.” Matty Healy and then he turned and shouted for Swift.

I wasn’t entirely impressed with The 1975’s performance and my attention turned to Swift and her behavior. I’d worked in magazines long enough to know that most celebrities kept it up at shows for a reason, and I began to wonder if Swift was just a 1975 superfan or if she was actually dating the singer.

About halfway through the show, Healy spoke to the audience for the first time. “Hello Los Angeles,” he said. “We’re actually moving here in April.”

Predictably, the crowd went wild at the news, and Swift did too, screaming “Oh yeah” and pumping her fists in the air. Afterwards, she turned to Gomez and whispered something, and Gomez smiled and nodded.

A little later, before the band performed “fallingforyou,” Healy asked the crowd to put their phones away and “enjoy the moment,” and there was a hush over the crowd as Healy and the band finally came together and delivered a beautiful version of the song .

I watched Swift play the song, most of the time with her eyes closed, a hand on her heart. When the song ended, she formed a (then classic) heart with her hands and held it towards the stage. She seemed completely in love with Healy.

A few songs later, Healy unbuttoned his shirt and revealed his chest tattoo, and Swift screamed and fanned himself, which made me laugh.

But the best moment came at the end of the show. After saying that “Chocolate” would be their last song of the night, the crowd wouldn’t let the band leave, especially since they hadn’t played their biggest hit “Sex” yet.

Suddenly, the entire venue began chanting “We want sex, we want sex,” and Swift and Gomez joined in, leaning over the railing and flapping their hands in time with the shout, screaming the same thing and laughing. Finally the band played the song and the place went wild. While the song was still playing, Swift and Gomez made their way, not taking the stairs that led down into the crowd, but using the elevator at the back of the balcony.

A few days later, I heard that Swift and Healy were actually dating. It wasn’t a surprise, and when The 1975 released their second album a few years later, it was definitely fun to guess which songs dealt with Healy’s breakup with Swift.