It was another electric Saturday night at the Santa Barbara Bowl as a triple threat of international dance, electronic, and indie-rock acts hit the stage on a sunny 70-degree Earth Day. (See how the Bowl is leading its own charge of greening the concert industry.)

The night was anything but tame with Jagwar Ma kicking off the festivities; the band from Down Under won over the crowd with their psychedelic dance hits. The Australian trio consists of Gabriel Winterfield, Jono Ma, and Jack Freeman and was formed in Sydney in 2011. The band—whose name is a combo of “jaguar” and Jono’s surname—already has two albums under its belt. They warmed up the sold-out crowd with a brief set before checking out the view from the pit and taking photos with fans as Little Dragon went on next.

Lead vocalist Yukimi Nagano, along with high school friends Erik Bodin on drums, Fredrik Källgren Wallin on bass, and Håkan Wirenstrand on the keys played a mix of old and new songs, including “Test,” “Sweet,” “High,” “Pretty Girls,” and a crowd favorite “Ritual Union.” The Swedish band is currently riding on a high with their new album Season High released earlier this month; their fifth studio album is a follow-up to 2014’s Nabuma Rubberband which received a Grammy nom for Best Dance/Electronic Album.

Wanna send a little love

And let this play the beat

In between space and time

It's invisibility

“Strobe Light”

Concertgoers of all ages were there to dance; and it was nearly impossible not to move to the bass-thumping beats, and at other times slowly sway to a smooth tropical island vibe. Nagano described their latest record as having a theme of escapism, of wanting the music to transport listeners to another place.I watched her move around the stage in an eccentric hot pink veil that glowed neon under the green lights, and as the equally vibrant sun set over the venue, I understood exactly what she meant. Their last song concluded with Bodin standing atop his drum set, raising the bar for the night’s main act, Glass Animals.  

Under a giant color-changing pineapple (a visual allusion to the catchy chorus of their hit song “Pork Soda”), Glass Animals had no problem delivering, playing a barrage of hits from their modest two-album repertoire. As a fairly young band by industry standards, the English indie-rockers credit a lot of their fandom to the streaming service Spotify, which is how myself, and many of my friends, first discovered the band. No strangers to the festival circuit, they have made the rounds at Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, and Bonnaroo; and Santa Barbara was the last stop on their U.S. tour following back-to-back weekend Coachella performances.

Lead singer Dave Bayley, along with bandmates Drew MacFarlane (guitar and keys), Edmund Irwin-Singer (bass and keys), and Joe Seaward on drums (and occasionally a pineapple-shaped shaker), took their places around a vintage TV set and started off their high-energy set with “Life Itself.” The up-tempo number is the first single off their sophomore album How to Be a Human Being (2016). They followed up with 2014’s “Black Mambo,” alternating between hits from both their first album ZABA and the latest record. Though the setlist weighted heavily toward the newer, more lively tracks.

During their performance of “Hazey,” Bayley took a quick seat, having recently suffered from a broken ankle—but it wasn’t long before he was up and jumping around the stage unhindered by his foot brace.

Leopards laze each

On plush pillows

Slender capes

Of red and chrome

Paperback dreams

In their deep doze

Twitch their toes to

Black mambo

“Black Mambo”

The band moved onto “Poplar St.,” “The Other Side of Paradise,” and “Season 2 Episode 3,” all new tracks from Human Being. Every time Bayley erratically pumped his arms in the air, the crowd followed suit; each song felt like an anthem, but underneath the cheery and optimistic surface often lies a layer of dark lyrical storytelling. A bit of backstory on the latest album: their mission was to create a complete digital experience rather than a collection of short-lived hit singles. Each song follows the life of a uniquely complex character, and the band has even gone so far as to build websites, video games, and other forms of multimedia content around the fictional subjects.

The band played a few more songs from their latest record before Bayley jumped into the full pit of concertgoers and made his way to the middle of the venue to perform “Gooey.”

Pineapples are in my head

(when you were fun)

Got nobody 'cos I’m brain dead

(you made me run)

Pineapples are in my head

(to the seafront)

Got nobody 'cos I’m brain dead

(she took the plunge)

“Pork Soda”

Then it was back on top of the TV for Bayley who belted out “Agnes,” before exiting the stage for a short pre-encore breather. They ended their set with “Pools” and their latest single “Pork Soda.” Bayley raised a cocktail to the crowd, which he explained was an end-of-tour tradition, and bid the Santa Barbara Bowl a good night. At the end of the night I found myself with not only a weird craving for a pineapple drink, but also memories of a musical experience that will last long after the next Glass Animals album drops. I consider their mission accomplished.

Check out all the show photos by Santa Barbara Bowl House Photographer, A Art Fisher, on our photo library.

Rachel Jefferson is a writer for a Santa Barbara-based software company and an avid concertgoer.