I hope everyone has the opportunity to see one of their favorite bands at an intimate venue at some point. A few years back I saw Arctic Monkeys live at Madison Square Garden. One of my favorite bands, I didn't even care that I had pretty crappy seats – I still think of it as one of the best nights of my life. My mom and dad bought three tickets the night before the concert - hence the reason for the lack of seating options. The three of us created memories that will last us forever; we still talk about that concert at least once a month.
Last night, however, I saw another favorite of mine: Glass Animals at Terminal 5 here in New York City. A rather tiny venue, no matter how far back you stood, (I happened to be front row,) you still felt like the band was performing solely for you. Incredible.
The experience started as soon as you walked in the door. Fog was rolling out of the doors, with huge palm trees draped around the already tiny hallway and various jungle creature noises playing from hidden speakers. I went with two friends and my dad, and from the second we walked in, we were already transported to a different world. The stage was decorated in the same style, except with pineapples randomly placed throughout.
Around 8:00, Empress Of opened the venue. Lorely Rodriguez is a Honduran-American based in New York City who first gained attention back in 2012 when she anonymously released minute-long demos of different colors under the moniker "Colorminutes." I already knew a few of her songs from indie radio stations, and was excited to hear her perform. Dressed in an oversized camo flannel and Spandex shorts, her wild hair flying, she came out swinging. Song after song, Empress Of rocked the crowd with songs like "How Do You Do It," "Everything is You," and "Need Myself." She did more than just warm up the crowd - her synth indie-pop-r&B left everyone reeling as she left the stage as quickly and she floated on.
And finally, around 9:15, Glass Animals appeared in billowing fog under huge palm trees. Like Empress Of, they took no time to jump into things. They opened with "Walla Walla," the energy levels already through the roof. If lead singer Dave Bayley ever felt tired, he never let it show. He danced and flung himself around the stage and never took a break – through "Intruxx," "Hazey," "Psylla," "Exxus," and of course "Gooey." Let's just talk about Gooey. It's everyone's favorite Glass Animals song. The crowd, as well as the band, went wild for Gooey. The band debuted one of their new tracks they dropped earlier last week, "Gold Lime," a cover/remix of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Erykah Badu. They ended with "Wyrd," before coming out for an encore, in which Dave jumped into the crowd to sing Kanye's "Love Lockdown" and finally "Pools."
The love Glass Animals' have for their fans showed last night. Especially during "Hazey," when the crowd sang it louder than the band. They stopped singing and pointed the mics to the crowd instead. Sheer joy never left any of their faces once. They had just as much fun as their fans did, which is one of the most important aspects of a live performance.
"Zabajaba
Our favourite records always transport you somwhere away from reality. They take you out of your bedroom and put you in a different land and pull you through some kind of journey. We've always wanted the live shows of those records to be the same. To transform the venue into that land and keep everyone there from the moment they set foot in the door."
~ Dave Glass Animals
