A towering set of letters, “GA,” lit by hanging Tetris blocks and accompanied by a large antique television set the scene for the Glass Animals’ performance at the Greek Theatre this past Friday. A pineapple-shaped disco ball above rows of palm trees formed a striking image under the Greek’s iconic columns, visually and literally heightening crowd expectations.
Staging aside, Glass Animals frontman David Bayley gave the performance an entirely new dimension. First and foremost, the live songs are almost indistinguishable from their studio-recorded counterparts. If you had arrived at the concert with headphones in your ears and took them off midway through any given song, you would not be able to tell the difference in the sound. That’s just half of their technical mastery. Bayley has the ability to be playful with his voice in addition to singing to the audience with studio quality. He was able to make every song his own and keep things interesting through the slower songs. Bayley simply cannot sit still. The man jumped around the wide Greek Theater stage constantly, whether he was singing from the top of the kick drum or down to his knees by the far end of the stage. He even sang “Gooey” from inside the audience pit and truly tested the limits of his microphone cord.
Overall, the band played a surprisingly diverse show, given their limited palette of just two albums to choose from. The band offered their unique brand of lively yet dark synth pop. They were more than able to distinctly switch up the vibe in switching between Zaba and How to be a Human Being, from the warm playful sound of “Hazey” transitioning to the rough, cutting drop of “The Other Side of Paradise.” The band had fun with the audience, treating them to an old cover of Gnarls Barkley’s classic “Crazy” for the encore. You could still hear the lyrics resonating throughout the audience as people began to vacate the theater at the end of the evening.
The Glass Animals are touring in the US until mid-October. After that, they are traveling through Mexico and France until early March. Catch them somewhere on their journey!
Written by Arnav Chaturvedi
Photos by Annie Nguyen