The Garden and Alice Glass Throw an Angst Filled Rager @ Summit
May 15, 2024
Last Wednesday, the alt kids of Denver gathered at Summit to sweat off their clown makeup in the mosh pit.
Alice Glass and Fletcher Shears via instagram.
After arriving at the venue, it wasn’t all that surprising to see punk-clad fans wrapped around the building for what felt like miles, half an hour before doors were set to open. This dedication is standard for the cult-following of SoCal experimental rock band, The Garden. Twins Wyatt and Fletcher Shears started the project in 2011, and have since built an extensive discography of ever-evolving sound that defies boundaries or labels of any sort. With influences from punk, surf-rock, and electronica, their genre-less sound is a testament to their dedication to creative freedom.
Stars must have aligned to unite The Garden with legendary artist, Alice Glass, for this leg of the tour. The tenured musician has been captivating fans with her angsty scream-vocals since the indie sleaze craze of 2006. In fact, her prior project, Crystal Castles, is considered by many to have been a pioneer of the era. A defining moment of the culture being her performance of “Alice Practice” on an episode of the hit UK series, Skins (you know, the scene where Sid has an emotional breakdown at the club). Since leaving that project in 2017, and bravely releasing a statement detailing the abuse she endured while in it, Glass’ solo career has flourished. Her dark electronica embodies cathartic themes of anger and revenge. She continues to display the genius that made Crystal Castles so successful, now on her own terms.
Alice Glass performing in Santiago, Chile. Photo by @andieborie.
Cheering erupted, shaking the place as Glass and her DJ emerged on stage. Without skipping a beat, they dove into performing hit after hit. Microphone in hand, Glass bounced around the stage delivering her signature falsetto and the occasional gut-wrenching shriek. During electropop hit, “Forgiveness”, she cried “I’m the same as you, I have nothing / I am empty too in the right way / We don’t care that no one will miss us / We don’t need their blame or forgiveness” over an intoxicating bass line. Vengeful anthem, “Nightmares” also appeared early in her set. Glass’ sweet voice lamented, “Tell me those lies again / Can’t believe I trusted in you” before switching gears to scream, “We can take out their teeth / They will never smile again” alongside a supercharged electronic track. She also treated us to several songs from her 2022 debut album, PREY//IV, including “BABY TEETH”, and “THE HUNTED”.
Toward the end of her set, Glass threw in a few of her iconic Crystal Castles tracks. The first few beats of “Celestica” were all fans needed to recognize and react to the nostalgic number. Phones shot up and stayed up to capture “Alice Practice”, which followed. Glass’ desperate screams echoed, “I live as Alice, I die”, supported by a deep fried, oversaturated backing track. By the time she wrapped up, the room was buzzing with energy. Glass left us on a high note, primed and waiting anxiously for The Garden to take the stage.
The Garden performing in NYC, photo by @muhstee.
The crowd’s excitement couldn’t be contained when the Shears twins made their debut. They sprung onto the stage with no shortage of energy—it seemed a mosh pit was already forming in response. Fletcher did a somersault and swung their mic around by its cord at the top of “What Else Could I Be But a Jester”. Insanity ensued. The duo ran around on stage as they performed, Fletcher occasionally using the drum set as a launchpad to do trick shots off of. When Fletcher eventually did take to the drums, they banged out extremely high-tempo rhythms with impossible precision.
Wyatt took the front of the stage for the majority of the set, providing vocals, plucking funky bass lines, and showcasing some very interesting dance moves. They played a bit of everything, sourcing from all eras of their discography. “AMPM Truck” and “Hit Eject” from Kiss My Super Bowl Ring, “Egg” and “Vexation” from haha, “Call the Dogs Out” and “:(“ from Mirror Might Steal Your Charm, and 2016 single “Call This # Now” to name just a few.
The standing pit was absolute chaos. Rather than forming occasionally, a mosh pit remained relentlessly active throughout the entire show. Multiple times per song, a fan would end up crowdsurfing until they were carried to the rail, where they were met by the warm embrace of a security guard waiting to catch them (unless they evaded this by performing a special spin move to travel backwards in the crowd, which I saw one fan execute perfectly). Also, someone brought a bubble gun, so a perpetual cloud of bubbles hovered above the action.
Before closing their set, the twins performed “Thy Mission”, the 2019 collaboration with Mac DeMarco. They didn’t get away with leaving the stage for long, as fans knew they couldn’t close without performing one song in particular—”Banana Peel”. The ones fans brought with them flew onto the stage as soon as the track started. They took turns, one twin spitting their verse while the other danced and dodged incoming peels. When the show ended, the packed room let out onto Denver streets where, fortunately, it was raining. Fans crowded around the tour trailer, eagerly awaiting the chance to meet the twins. The loyalty of this fandom can be attributed, in part, to the space The Garden provides for anyone to be their weird selves. Wyatt and Fletcher lead by example.
The Garden are on tour in the U.S. and Europe through the remainder of the summer. They’re also putting on two special performances with the artists on their label, Vada Vada, including Cowgirl Clue, Slater, and 3L3D3P. These shows are set to take place in Chicago and Brooklyn in November.