MUNA @ SWG3, Glasgow, 15 Nov

The mood in SWG3's Galvanizers space is jubilant after an effective support from RuPaul's Drag Race UK runner up Bimini. As the lights dim, Californian indie-pop trio MUNA, who started making music in their university dorm room, take their places onstage before lead singer Katie Gavin initiates What I Want, an immediate crowd-pleaser that sees the 1,250 strong audience screaming back: 'I wanna dance in the middle of a gay bar!'

The feral energy generated by the track is whipped up and encouraged by guitarist Josette Maskin who energetically bounces across the stage. The bangers come in quick succession, the anthemic 1975’s-esque synth of Solid from their latest self-titled record keeps the crowd moving, while Stayaway, which details the difficulty of resisting a relapse into an old relationship, is simply spectacular.

The first verse is delivered with a deadpan affect: 'If I see my old friends, we'll go out dancing / If we go out dancing, then we’ll go to the bar / If we go to the bar, then there's gonna be drinking / If I drink, I wanna see where you are'. Gavin’s roaring vocals are on full display for the chorus before the trio come together for a glorious synchronised headbang just as the drums kick in at the end.

After relatively limited chats with the crowd at the beginning of the set, Gavin turns on the charm: “I don’t want to toot our horn too much, but we’ve been told we’re pretty funny. You know what, since I’m in Glasgow do you want me to do a Scottish accent?” she says, engendering a mixed response of both encouragement and nervous anticipation for what might come. Guitarist Naomi McPherson outright refuses to join in, and so Gavin introduces the next track, the lo-fi Loose Garment, with a more than passable Glaswegian inflection, prompting cheers from a jubilant – and relieved – crowd.

Image: MUNA by Elliot Hetherton

The tracks that populate the midsection of the set, Navy Blue, Kind of Girl, and Taken, are noticeably slower and the jumping crowd is softened into a slow sway. The party atmosphere returns for Anything But Me, and to cries of delight, Gavin suddenly throws an inflatable horse into the crowd. “I have to say the UK crowds we’ve played are much gentler than the US – there’s not been any snatching here,” Gavin laughs as the horse, named Stacey, is dutifully returned to her hands at the end of the song.

The trio then perform a cover of The Killer’s Mr Brightside which enthuses the Glasgow crowd, making for one of the biggest singalongs of the night, but the cheers are quickly eclipsed by the ecstatic release that is I Know a Place. The track, arguably their most known, is a potent ode to the magic of queer safe spaces that was released in the aftermath of the 2016 mass shooting that targeted largely Queer Latinx revellers at Pulse, a gay club in Orlando. Queer couples embrace, and as hands lift in the sky, and the crowd chant the chorus back in unison it’s evident that MUNA have created a space where queers can come and celebrate themselves and each other in peace.

And the joy doesn’t stop there. The final track is the exhiliarating Silk Chiffon, their poppiest track to date. Bimini returns to the stage to sing Phoebe Bridgers' verse, and as the crowd sings, 'Life’s so fun, life’s so fun!', it’s true; life has been fun tonight!