I’m not sure if it was the 18+ entry, the anticipation of Halloween in the atmosphere, or just genuine buzz for the evening’s lineup, but Great Scott was a frenzy on October 28 as four-piece Public Access TV took the stage, opening for Madrid’s own Hinds. Supplying the space with poppy tunes, punky vocals, and plenty of dancing college students, John Eatherly, Xan Aird, Max Peebles, and Pete Star– together, PATV– played hard for their fifth show at the Allston venue.

Vocalist Eatherly brought guttural yelps with an energy that any audience could get in on, and for Wednesday night openers, the crowd seemed to have no problem letting loose. Neither did the band, apparently, whose instrumentation sounded lax compared to the studio versions on songs like “Monaco,” and “In The Mirror” but not necessarily without. Their sound came together to form tunes that called to mind what might be playing at school dance in a teen movie from like 2003. In a good way.

Eatherly’s lax vocals on some songs weren’t as easy to swallow, though, and there were moments when he just sounded off-key and unintelligible. The band’s practiced but almost awkward blend of modern new wave and punk rock effectively masked that element of their performance, however, and their set successfully prepped us for the craze that Hinds’ performance was about to bring.

It wasn’t yet midnight when headliners Hinds jumped right into their surf-rocky set with obvious crowd pleasers like “Between Cans” and “Trippy Gum.” The Spanish-speaking quartet made it easy for the show to quickly spiral into a lo-fi free-for-all, egging the crowd on purely by exuding positive energy. In heavy but decipherable accents the band made the effort to precurse songs, including one “about a little plant,” and their set was rife with spirited but ambiguous cries in Spanish. But for the crowd at Great Scott that night, it worked. Hinds was feeding off the crowd’s aura just as much as the crowd was feeding off them.

Halfway through their set, after renditions of “Chili Town” and “Bamboo,” it became almost painfully obvious what Hinds’ setlist was missing. They just desperately need a straight-up jam song. When they’re jamming, Carlotta Cosials (vox, guitar), Ana Perrote (vox, guitar), Ade, Martin (vox, bass), and Amber Grimbergen (drums) can f***ing go off. And the spirit that comes with that kind of performance is what truly sets this group apart from any other garage rock band. So, it was no surprise that we saw at least three trusting crowdsurfers go up that night, and at least 20+ audience members (consensually) rush the stage, resulting in one, giant, zealous cover of Thee Headcotees’ tune “Davey Crockett,” and one Wednesday night well spent.