On Aug. 8, Glass Animals landed in Alpharetta’s Ameris Bank Amphitheatre for their second show of their “Tour of Earth.” The band is currently touring their album “I Love You So F***ing Much,” which they released in July 2024. Though David Bayley (vocals), Drew MacFarlane (guitar and keyboard), Edmund Irwin-Singer (bass) and Joe Seaward (drums) started Glass Animals in 2010, they have experienced a meteoric rise since their single “Heat Waves” went viral in 2020. Now, their otherworldly production has put them among the stars.
In the minutes leading up to the concert, crowds started filing into their seats, and the audience swelled with excitement. As the sun set, the stadium lights reflected on hundreds of neon 70s-style outfits, perfectly aligning with the space-synth aesthetic of the new album.
Glass Animals threw quite a production, and it was evident from before the show even began. Fog overwhelmed the stage, which was covered by a huge curtain displaying the album’s cover. Suddenly, the curtain fell to reveal the band playing “whatthehellishappening?” from their new album in front of a grandiose visual display. Vintage spaceship control panels surrounded the band, and an LED screen that spanned the entire stage illuminated the amphitheatre.
During the first few songs, Bayley struggled to get comfortable with the crowd. He seemed a bit reserved, singing behind the microphone stand on the elevated back-half of the stage along with the rest of his band. The vocals were a bit shaky, but he maintained a high energy level throughout the first few songs.
The songs themselves did not stand out during the first half of the show, and the production was its most impressive element. The band shifted to a more gothic mood with their third song “Wonderful Nothing,” as the stage dimmed and flashed soft green lights. As Bayley danced across the stage, a plasma ball emerged in the center of the stage that flashed erratic rays of green light. Glass Animals totally nailed the atmosphere and aesthetics of their concert.
The audience followed each song with roaring cheers for the band, and it was obvious that Bayley fed off of its energy. He gradually became more comfortable with the audience; he descended to the lower stage and started dancing as he performed, all with a smile on his face. By the time he started singing “Space Ghost Coast To Coast,” an upbeat hit off of their 2020 album “Dreamland,” the fans in the pit were dancing almost as
vigorously as him.
The energy reached a climax with Bayley’s elaborate ten-minute performance of “Gooey,” the band’s first popular hit from 2014. The song blended in with most of the others in terms of sound and lyricism but gave the catchiest chorus of the night when Bayley sang, “You just wanna know those peanut butter vibes” repeatedly. In true Glass Animals fashion, the most memorable part of the night was his performance. After the first verse of the song, Bayley sprinted off stage and emerged a couple minutes later among the crowd in the lawn where he sang the next verse.
It was obvious that connecting with the audience so closely in a venue of this size was Bayley’s true passion. Any sort of reservations that their virality had converted them into one-hit wonders melted away.
Upon his return, he took a moment to address the crowd: “I was a bit nervous to come on stage, but it’s like a big warm hug seeing all you guys,” said Bayley.
After that performance, Glass Animals took a victory lap, playing some of their biggest hits. Each song was memorable and unique, and the energy they brought with them was unmatched. “Take A Slice” was the best song instrumentally. McFarlane played its TikTok-famous guitar solo whose suspenseful high notes sounded even better than the record.
The show concluded with “Heat Waves” as the encore, and hearing it was worth waiting in the post-concert traffic. It is unfathomable that a wall of synthesizers accompanied by a laser light show could incite such raw emotions, but that is what Glass Animals gave in their final performance of the night. The repetition of the song’s chorus makes the melancholy breakup song incredibly catchy, forever imprinting the lyrics “Sometimes all I think about is you, late nights in the middle of June,” on the listeners.
Most of Glass Animals’ songs were not discernible from each other save for a few hits that knocked it out of the park. Although they sometimes missed the mark on individual performances or lyricism, they nailed the concert’s production, and the visuals alone were enough to light up the entire venue and keep the whole crowd dancing. Overall, they gave Atlanta a thrilling show that the audience is sure to remember.