Heyyy! I saw Glass Animals for the first time last night! And right off the heels of reviewing their latest album.
And it’s a good thing I gave that thing several listens, because at least half of the set was made up of songs from it! Thankfully, my favorite track, “On the Run,” made the cut, and it was so fun to see in a live setting. But before we get more into the show itself, let’s talk about Dave’s vocals. This man is insanely talented. The falsettos he hits sound just like the recorded version and he was doing considerably more running around than I was anticipating. Given how laid back most of their songs are, I was expecting minimal movement, which is just fine by me. But they certainly took advantage of this huge venue.
On that note, I was also pretty surprised that the space was even remotely filled out. Last time they were in town they played at a venue that was almost four times smaller. I’m sure that show was sold out, but I was having a hard time wrapping my head around them playing a show here. Turns out Dreamland got them more fans than I was aware of. You know, good for them for drawing the crowds in with a more commercially popular record and then hitting them with the good, slow, weird stuff. It gives them the opportunity to keep them their with real, raw talent and thoughtful lyrics.
So yes, Glass Animals took advantage of this huge upgrade, and they must have had a pretty sick budget because the stage was adorned with all sorts of outer space paraphernalia. What really added to all of that was the lights, which went above and beyond for a good number of songs. There was also a second stage much closer to the pit audience, so that was a nice “call back” of sorts to their earlier, smaller venue days. Dave even went out into the crowd later in the show which was wildly hilarious to see how those people reacted. He was gracious and very interactive through the whole evening, and at a few moments throughout the show you could see how the vastness of audience really just baffled him. That’s the kind of band I want to see succeed, no matter how hipster I feel about them.
I was pumped to hear “Gooey” and “Pork Soda” in the flesh, and they were just as terrific as any other live version I’ve heard, but of course I was sad to see that “Black Mambo” and “Deja Vu” didn’t make the cut. But them’s the sacrifices for the promotion of a new album. All in all, it was a really satisfying first time experience. I do hope that someday in the future they revert to some smaller venues, or I would love to see them at a festival. Can’t wait!
