GLASS ANIMALS LIVE!! | A SHOW LIKE NO OTHER!
In August of 2020, Glass Animals put out their third album, Dreamland, in the middle of a pandemic filled with uncertainty. The album itself, though written before "Covid" had entered our vocabulary, was centered around this same concept of uncertainty, change, growth, and reflection. In July of 2018, their drummer Joe Seaward suffered serious injuries after being hit by a truck while riding his bike, and the future of his life - and in turn, the band - was suddenly unknown. In the years following, he thankfully recovered after relearning how to walk, talk, and play drums, and amidst all of this, the head of the group and lead singer Dave Bayley coped by writing what we now know as their third album. Dreamland is a nostalgic look back into the defining moments of his life and childhood, and ultimately, a brave step forward into the future despite uncertainty. It embraces asking introspective questions and finds comfort in an unusual palette of sounds and instrumentations.
In celebration of the album's second birthday, on August 8th and 9th Glass Animals performed a show titled "Dreamland IRL" at The Brooklyn Mirage - but it was much more than just a typical show. To enter the concert floor, you had to walk through a maze of rooms that were set up with various art installations, each designed with the intent to immerse you directly into Dreamland's album art. Instrumental versions of songs from the album as well as demos of new songs played in the background, as attendees bought drinks and merch, played nostalgic video games, posed in front of neon signs, and more.
The stage itself was set up with incredible props, all also pulled from the album art, including a diving board, basketball hoop, and the iconic 3D renderings of the members' heads. The stage was most prominently backdropped by a large LED screen designed to look like an old computer from the 90s/early 2000s, which displayed old clips of home videos and trippy art that fit the theme of each song as they performed. Initially, a typical desktop home screen was shown on the screen, and the moments leading to the band coming out were counted down as though their performance was a program being installed. When the band took the stage, they kicked it off with Dreamland's title track, which serves as a lush and gentle table of contents for each of the songs and themes on the album. This was followed up with the high energy "Life Itself" from their sophomore album How To Be A Human Being, before delving back into Dreamland with hit single "Tangerine". Throughout the night they performed all but 2 tracks of Dreamland, as well as several from their second album - "Pork Soda" and "The Other Side Of Paradise" amongst them - and even a couple from their first record Zaba ("Gooey", and "Black Mambo" was also included as part of a mashup with "Hot Sugar").
A standout performance was that of their song "It's All So Incredibly Loud', which is an emotional song that builds steadily in volume and intensity. Their performances all night were powerful, energetic, and consistent the entire night, and the crowd gave back just as much energy as they were given. Lead singer Dave Bayley danced all over the stage and was dripping sweat just a few songs in. The rest of the band - made up of guitarist Drew McFarlane, Bassist Ed Irwin-Singer, and drummer Joe Seaward - all brought incredible stage presence and performances themselves, having no trouble occupying all of the otherwise very large stage. Towards the end of the night, Dave expressed how they felt these shows were the perfect way to not just finally celebrate a pandemic-released album in person outside of a standard tour, but to also bid it farewell as they move onto the next chapter. He revealed that it would likely be a while before the band played the U.S. again - though not stated, presumably because they have a new album in the works to focus on - and that these shows were a perfect closure to a special era and period of incredible growth for the band.
They ended the night, of course, with their career-defining song "Heat Waves", which reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and is still in the top 15 on the list 82 weeks after entering. Glass Animals paired these shows with the release of the "Real Life Edition" of Dreamland, which features remixes, alternate versions, and new single "I Don't Wanna Talk" and can be found on streaming services. Though the band seems to be taking some time away from shows after this, be sure to keep an eye out on their social media for anything else they might have coming up!
Contributing Editor and Photographer Carly Palicz
