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Live Recap: Glass Animals at Credit Union 1 Arena
When I think of Glass Animals, my mind immediately drifts to sunny summer days at the beach, neon lights, and bright colors. Essentially, they embody happiness and tropical vacations in a band. While this past Friday night in Chicago was chilly and rainy, the second I stepped into the Credit Union 1 arena that Glass Animals was performing at, it felt like I had entered a bubble of paradise that protected me from the gloomy outside world.
As I made my way into the main room of the arena, I spotted excited fans donning neon-colored clothes and sparkly outfits that reflected the vibes of Glass Animals’ upbeat tunes. Some crowd members had posters and balloons as well, but the best fan accessory had to be the blow up pineapple-shaped floatie that paid homage to the band’s unofficial mascot of the pineapple (which even got a shout out from singer Dave Bayley after they played “Pork Soda”).
After taking in the crowd, I soaked up the incredible set design that had been assembled onstage—at the very back of the stage, a screen that resembled a desktop computer counted down the moments until Glass Animals’ set would begin. A giant basketball hoop and palm trees stood tall on the sides of the stage, and the front of the stage was designed to look like a swimming pool, including a diving board. The theme of the stage captured the essence of summer fun and the nostalgia of being a kid.
The last time I saw Glass Animals perform had been at Lincoln Hall in March of 2020, just before the live music industry shut down, so it was incredible to see them return in such a massive way. From the size of the crowd and the intricacy of the stage design, this time around was so different. Despite the bigger crowd and bigger set up, the one thing that didn’t change between these scales of show was the amount of passion and showmanship that Bayley and his bandmates brought to the stage. Glass Animals is a band that just has that element of authentic charisma when they hit the stage, no matter what type of stage it is, you know that you’re going to witness a stellar performance. When the show began with the euphoric title track of 2020’s Dreamland, I felt an instant rush of serotonin that didn’t falter for the rest of the show.
This show was my first time hearing many of the songs from Dreamland performed live since the album came out in the summer of 2020, but the band also sprinkled in familiar favorites like “Life Itself” and “Youth” from 2016’s How To Be A Human Being and “Gooey” from 2014’s ZABA. During the set, Bayley remained fluid across the entirety of the stage, dancing and moving along as he sang their songs, but there was a moment after “Gooey” where the crowd got extra loud with their applause and cheers and Bayley paused to soak in that moment with gratitude. The high energy picked right back up and came to a peak when confetti showered the audience at the end of “Pork Soda” just before the members of Glass Animals left the stage. While the fans hollered for an encore, the computer screen backdrop held a prompt that asked if we wanted Glass Animals to continue. The resounding answer based on the intensity of the cheers was yes, so the group returned to the stage to perform “Tokyo Drifting” and their massive hit “Heat Waves,” which has been all over the radio, Tik Tok, and garnered over one billion streams on Spotify. Since it came out, “Heat Waves” has remained in my rotation because it’s one of those songs that can instantly boost my mood, and it was a wonderful experience getting to soak in the anthem with an arena full of fellow fans.
See where you can catch Glass Animals on tour next here, and relive the magic of their show with the photo recap, also featuring Sad Night Dynamite, below.
Live Recap: Manchester Orchestra with Foxing & Michigander at Roxian Theater
The Manchester Orchestra show at Pittsburgh’s Roxian Theater was sound scape so skillfully crafted the time flew from one band to the next.
The show started with Jason Singer’s Michigander as the first of three, playing an intriguing mix of indie rock and pop with something a bit bluesy (reminiscent at times of the eastern PA band The Districts). The band sounded great. Drums blended smoothly with vocals, leading the guitar and bass through each song like a lantern-carrying guide through the soundscape. Singer’s unique vocal style carried the band through a short but successful set that the crowd was genuinely supporting.
Next up, Foxing. The Missouri band were a perfect filling between Michigander and Manchester Orchestra. Their urgent indie, post-rock sound filled the Roxian with a wave of sound both melodic and enthusiastic. Singer Conor Murphy even busted out the trumpet! Overall Foxing served up a great, infectiously moody set that was a great set up to the main act, their “heros”, as Murphy proclaimed, Manchester Orchestra.
Manchester Orchestra looked on stage exactly as I’d always pictured them. Dark, backlit and moody. The bright lights behind creating a (likely intended) halo effect in the dark of the theater. The long set included the favorites “Bed Head,” “The Gold “and others, and every track was impeccably executed. The sound turned from a wall to a wave and it crashed over The Roxian crowd both refreshing and anxious. From the start to the finish, which included Foxing’s Eric Hudson joining the band for a haunting version of “The Silence,” Manchester Orchestra was a fantastic show.
Three bands, two of which built the wall up of sound in order to allow Manchester Orchestra to bring it crashing back down under the pure weight of sound and feeling. A night of some really, really great music and vibes.
