Live Review: Glass Animals @ Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne

Here to prove that they’re not standing in the shadow of their goliath hit Heat Waves (3.2 billion streams on Spotify), the Oxford-formed indie rock band Glass Animals land their UFO on Australian shores for an array of shows across the East Coast. 

Fresh off a win last year with the triple j Hottest 100 with the Flume-assisted Say Nothing and a hot new album in ANALYSIS PARALYSIS, MAY-A warms up a buttery crowd plonked in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on a cool, crisp evening. The young star does an immaculate job at turning up the heat and is the perfect companion to the groove-tastic tones of Glass Animals.

A spaceship's control centre beams to life, set with threatening countdown timers and vintage 60s radio screens. The stage has minimal theatrics, with all the focus placed on the instruments scattered around and an armada of lights pointed out into the crowd. Setting phasers to fun, two little planets pop up on the screen for a philosophical conversation as they, too, eagerly await the band. 

The ever-so-iconic 2001: A Space Odyssey orchestral soundtrack reverberates around the bowl before smoke ominously spills into the auditorium as the boys walk on and assume their positions. Frontman Dave Bayley glides about on stage like a hipster Michael Jackson in grey business casual, hitting the moonwalk and spinning into Life Itself and Your Love (Déjà vu). Purple and blue light strobe through another thick smoke cloud as the lead singer prances from left to right in his signature funk, spinning and breaking in a way Raygun would be envious of. 

“It’s good to be back in Australia, I’ve missed this Australian crowd energy” Dave says as a 3D rendered Squirtle and Nintendo NES rotates in rendered polygon on the screen behind him. The band launches into Wonderful Nothing off their latest album, I LOVE YOU SO F**KING MUCH.

Feeling a little zesty and probably sweaty from the disco dance moves, the rockstar does a cheeky little pose before playing Tear In Space. On the alt-rock meets hip-hop track The Other Side of Paradise, blue strobes blaze out onto the hill like laser beams as the singer throws his voice with a growl into the crowd.

Dave’s unique vocals hold a power of their own, but it’s unfair to say he’s the star of the show, even if he poses like a Greek statue and has enough swagger to make you think he’s in a gang. The production from Joe Seaward on drums, Edmund Irwin-Singer on bass and keys, and Drew MacFarlane on guitar seals the deal and wraps up the concert experience in a wonderfully talented bow. 

Multicoloured phone lights flicker on like prismatic searchlights on lead single Creatures In Heaven as gemstones and alien eyeballs rain down on the LED. As the final chorus hits, the gang has the crowd in the palm of their hand, screaming the lines back to the band.

“That was beautiful, thank you.” They approve. Youth is a vibe of a track where tongue clicks and an 80s synth-pop beat blend into an energised funk track, followed by the slow, sombre guitar strum of the twinkling Lost In The Ocean as drums are introduced until it builds into an outright cry.

Seemingly appearing at the back of the back of the dome as if by magic, Dave jests with the crowd. Noticing his bum plastered on the screen, he gives it a cheeky pat and misses his cue for Gooey. Show Pony bleeds into How I Learned To Love The Bomb, more highlights of the latest LP before throwing it back to a few of the classics with the bouncy Take A Slice, with a life-altering shred of a guitar solo, and the pineapple-crazy Pork Soda.

After a bow and an exit off stage causing pleas for more, the little talking planets are back. “I think that’s it, Carl. “No, wait, I think I saw the setlist on Reddit,” says one Planet to the other. Tokyo Drifting with its smooth trap melody and cooing from Dave and a digital hologram of Denzel Curry sets the encore into gear. The night ends on a tremendous high as Billboard Number 1 single Heat Waves erupts through the bowl and out into the fields of Melbourne, along with rapturous applause. 

It’s a laidback, casual setting, bolstered by the natural high of the outdoor amphitheatre. Comical sci-fi figures phase in and out as a multimedia light show is embezzled onto the crowd. Each song feels so natural, and the band plays without an ounce of pressure. Their power grows with every applause and cheer from the hordes partying in the bowl and on the hill. It’s a performance perfected for the modern world.