Girl at the Rock Shows

I honestly don’t remember how I wound up at a Glass Animals show in March of 2022, but I remember it, and that says everything I needed to know. Something about that song stuck with me, and although I couldn’t remember if it was the show, the music, the visuals, or a mix of it all, I knew that their return to The Armory on Monday night was a show that I could not miss.

As soon as the clock hit 8 PM, Orla Gartland and her band stormed the stage and brought the audience to their knees in a way. There was something so commanding about Orla’s presence, but at the same time, there was something soft and sweet. It was an intriguing juxtaposition that only highlighted the sheer talent and catchiness that was playing out through the speakers. Add in the clear connection that Orla has with the two musicians who joined her on stage, and you are left with a truly dazzling opening act. The Armory is a huge venue, and I’ve seen many opening acts get lost in the sheer size of the hangar-style venue, but not Orla. Not only did her music fill the space perfectly, but she and her bandmates’ personalities filled every nook and cranny of the venue perfectly.

Orla is an Irish singer-songwriter who has been releasing music since 2011. The amount of material she has out there is seriously impressive, although she’s not a household name yet. I think it’s just a matter of time. Within the first song, I was distracted from taking photos by a few younger fans screaming their lungs out to every word. It’s something that I see play out night after night in a way, but this was slightly different. There was desperation in these fans’ voices. I don’t know if that was desperation to be noticed by the songstress and her band or desperation to get pent up feelings and aggression out of their souls but I know that it was a stunning thing to watch happen and, for a moment, I just so badly want to be in these kids’ shoes because they were truly feeling every vibration, every note, every word deep down in their soul. Overall, Orla Gartland’s opening set (which came complete with a super great cover of “Red Wine Supernova” by Chappell Roan) was perfect. It set the stage for what was to come, but also left you wanting so much more from this incredible talent.

As I mentioned, I had seen Glass Animals before, but again, I couldn’t tell you why. I wish I could tell you that I was drawn to that show because of a song I had heard or a rumor that was circling about their live shows, but the truth is, I can’t. All I can tell you is that it was fate because something blew me away that night to the point where, when Monday night’s show got announced, I knew I couldn’t miss it.

Glass Animals is a poppy indie-rock band from Oxford, England. Although their band name may not ring a bell, some of their songs probably will. From “Gooey” to “Heat Waves,” the number of hits that this band has out there is honestly quite surprising. It’s the kind of band that, as you start listening to them, you turn into a broken record as you continuously think, “Oh, hey! I’ve heard this song before!” every time they kick into a new one. That was the case for me on Monday night. Although I was already excited to see them solely because my memory told me that I really liked their live show, it wasn’t until they opened with a string of “Life Itself”, “Tangerine”, and “I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)” that I really remembered why this was a show that stood out to me in a lifetime of shows.

First off is the visual element that Glass Animals brings to the stage (and the audience but if I start talking about that, you’ll never get me to shut up– long story short, for being such a “big” band, Glass Animals isn’t afraid to become one with the audience). Not only do they fill the stage with props, but their use of bright lights really fills the space beyond the stage. For this tour, the stage was set up a bit like a spaceship of sorts. I’m sure this has something to do with their new album or a theme they have going on TikTok, but I don’t follow the band closely enough to tell you what it is. What I can tell you is that there was always something to see. Although watching the band was more than enough for me, I also enjoyed watching the visuals play out on the giant LED screen behind the band, or watching this spaceship-looking object in the middle of the stage show different images that coincided with the song being played at any given time. Okay, now that I try to put this into words, I realize how jumbled this all sounds, but that kind of explains what was going on. It was so much. So much to see and explore in a way, but at the same time, you tried not to get lost in it all because watching the actual band was just as thrilling.

Glass Animals’ band members know what they are doing on stage, especially vocalist Dave Bayley. The way that he could command the crowd, just the raising and lowering of his arm, was insane, and he definitely took advantage of that. A few songs into the track, he decided to play with the audience and see how closely they were actually paying attention. He raised his arm, which sparked a fury of screaming and shouting from the audience, and then dropped his arm. The audience went absolutely silent to the point where I swear you could hear a pin drop. He raised his arm again, ensuing complete chaos, but quickly dropped it like the pin you could surely hear. He continued to do this a few times before he proclaimed that Minneapolis is, in fact, “a music town.” Although I could have told him that, it was fun to see him innocently but fiercely interact with the audience that clearly wasn’t going to miss a single second of this set.

Glass Animals played through a thirteen-song set and followed that up with a two-song encore. Honestly, I could have stood there for so much more. Although their set was perfectly curated and I was completely shocked at just how many songs I recognized, it felt short and left me wanting so much more. That was probably on purpose, and I hope that means that I don’t have to wait another three years to witness the sheer magic that is Glass Animals live again.

Line Up:

Orla Gartland

Glass Animals

Venue: Armory

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 27

Crowd Surfers- 0 Spotted

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 1 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None Noticed

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

Idiots Taken Out By Security – 0

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Orla Gartland – 0

Glass Animals – 1

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score – 8.87 out of 10

Show on Deck — Sheila E

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