By Karen Glauber

Late last week, Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” reached ONE BILLION STREAMS—that’s absolutely phenomenal for an Alt band! I was thinking about the other bands I’ve worked with over the years, and I’m not sure any of them have hit that milestone, except for maybe The Lumineers with “Ho Hey” and “Ophelia.” Glass Animals’ show at the Troubadour in March 2020 was one of the last shows in Los Angeles before everything shut down. Days after releasing their brilliant new single, “I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)”—which, of course, was #1 Most Added this week—the band will be headlining two sold-out shows this weekend at a local cemetery/concert venue.

My negative COVID test results just came back a few minutes ago, and this will be my first concert in 562 days! The last show I saw was Patti Smith (my hero) at Disney Concert Hall, and I’ve been too skittish to see a show since I had COVID and the myriad complications that followed after the first shot. (No, my balls weren’t swollen, but thanks for asking.) Glass Animals is one of the few bands that have been playing on repeat in my house for the past few years, though my son says he knows about them from Sims 4.

Their social-media engagement since lockdown has been the most inviting and embracing of all the bands I follow—I hail singer Dave Bayley and manager Amy Morgan for creating this truly creative community for Glass Animals fans that provided a “peek behind the curtain” in an exceptionally ingenious way. Glass Animals have earned every bit of the success they now enjoy. I’ve been told that a rapid test at Hollywood Forever tomorrow will precede a chance to say hello to the band. Who doesn’t like having their brain tickled on a Saturday night? It’s unlikely I’ll be in the throng during the band’s set, so I’ll hang back with Chris Cornell and Johnny Ramone, buried next to each other about 50 yards from the stage.

I miss going to shows. I miss a lot of things. I even miss seeing my coworkers on a daily basis. If I feel comfortable after Saturday’s show, I’ll venture to the Hollywood Bowl next Friday night to see my #1-most-favorite band, Spoon (opening for St. Vincent). I remember seeing them at the Bowl the weekend before I had Julian, almost 13 years ago. Yep, Julian is about to turn 13 (eek!), so the race is on to get him prepped for his bar mitzvah, which will be held during an AJR soundcheck next June. Yes, we are Reform. And yes, AJR has signed off on this.

Great news from 91X after a few weeks’ airplay on Wet Leg’s “Chaise Longue.” I can’t give you the micro details, but let’s just say early research warranted a rotation bump this week. The song Shazammed like crazy when it was Audacy’s Pick of the Week, and every day we hear from programmers who’ve adopted it as their new anthem.

Speaking of anthems, MUNA’s new single, “Silk Chiffon,” which features Phoebe Bridgers, is nearing 2 million streams since its 9/7 release. I know you’re already a fan of MUNA, and this is the song that will break them at radio! Now that I’m attending shows, I look forward to seeing them open for Phoebe.

A new single from The Lumineers arrived Sunday at midnight, timed with their appearance on Kimmel Monday. Called “Brightside,” this is an American love song, heavy on guitar and light on stomps. You will absolutely love it.

My favorite exchange from the interview with Sir Lucian Grainge in this week’s HITS is this: “How do you wind down amid all this pressure?” “I go into my home office, put on some classic punk—The Sex Pistols, The Damned—and blast it!” In the spirit of Sir Lucian, I’m going to blast some Only Ones, Clash, Buzzcocks and Idles and feel inspired.