Glass Animals at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin on 29th of October 2016

Mad hype.

The only two words you could probably use to describe Glass Animals triumphant Irish return. The Olympia heaves with bodies as the rambunctious Oxford quartet make a mess of the stage.

Easily the loudest crowd of 2016 on this Halloween weekend, singer Dave Bayley has come dressed up as a live action Rugrats character in 90s streetwear. Life Itself kicks things off, with the crowd ingesting most of Bayley’s vocals.

Everyone knows the words to Season 2, Episode 3, and so ensues an insane rapport of lyric trading between the crowd and the band. Keyboard player Drew McFarlane and Bayley entertain some efforts at coordinated dancing.

Crowd interaction peaks during Gooey – Bayley immerses himself into the standing sectin and conducts the crowd masterfully. It’s a pity then that they see fit to drag the arse out of the track with an unnecessary extended outro.

Hazey is kicked up a notch for a live setting, providing a much appreciated tempo change. Second single from their sophomore album Youth comes surprisingly early on in the night, but its received well nonetheless.

New album ‘How To Be A Human Being’ builds on the funk-R’n’B-rock stylings that Zaba began. Their music is out there enough to be considered credible by the indie darlings, but fun and madcap enough to ensure that it’s not stifling. They’re evidently stoked by the insane reaction to their performances.

Their attempts at packing as many sounds as humanly possible into every track make it hard to identify every instrument and technique. On occasion, Bayley struggles to project fully over the racket.

Glass Animals present a seriously well-rounded ‘second album show’, with each song trumping the next and casual gig-goers sated by the large presence of singles and ‘big tracks’. It’s giddy, it’s goofy with glimmers of glory in the likes of the stunning movement of Pools.

They are well in line to feature on Album Of The Year Lists internationally, and after this display, Gig Of The Year doesn’t seem too far out of their reach either