The sun was setting over the crowd as Glass Animals made their captivating appearance on the Electric Picnic Main Stage. One of the last stops on a string of festival dates and their North American Dreamland tour, the four piece from Oxford showed no signs of fatigue with their joyously energetic performance on Friday night.

People were still streaming into the Main Stage area as they opened with ‘Life Itself’, and the delight on lead singer Dave Bayley’s face as he watched the crowd grow before the band’s eyes was plain to see. He spent the entire set immersing himself in said crowd, serenading a baby near the front (and apologising for the lyrical content) during ‘Tangerine’. He then spent most of their performance of ‘Space Ghost Coast to Coast’ standing on the security barrier. Between all this he must have covered every inch of the stage dancing about, finishing out ‘Space Ghost Coast to Coast’ with a dance number with his own guitar. Clad all in white, every eye was drawn to his magnetic presence, as he inhabited every moment and lyric of each song.

Dave Bayley of Glass Animals at Electric Picnic 2022. Copyright Liam Murphy.

The band kept their set short but sweet. The setlist pulled songs from all of their albums, such as 'Life Itself', 'Youth' and 'The Other Side of Paradise' from 2016's How To Be a Human, along with Dreamland songs 'Space Ghost Coast to Coast', 'Tangerine', 'Your Love (Déjà Vu)', and 'Tokyo Drifting'.

They ended with the song we were all waiting for – their runaway hit 'Heatwaves'. Judging by the looks on the band's faces, it must have been some view to see (and hear) the whole festival singing "Sometimes all I think about is you" back up to them. Bayley thanked the crowd "a fucking incredible way" to end their tour, and asking "That was great but I think we can go louder?" he asked before leading us in one last chorus for 'Heatwaves' for the big finish. It was a perfect sign off, and a bittersweet farewell to the heatwave that ended for so many festival goers mere hours later.

Despite the cold and rainy weather, things will be heating up in the Hot Press Chatroom as we talk to an exciting line-up of artists in our tent in the Mindfield arena, with guest appearances by Declan McKenna, Hermitage Green, Riptide Movement and more across the weekend.