Young the Giant Show Review (11/14)

by Quinn Slattery
2013-11-27

Young the Giant Show Review (11/14)

With the days leading up to it being brutally cold, Young The Giant’s intimate Cafe 939 performance this past Thursday night was just what the Boston community needed to warm up and get out of the house. Frontman Sameer Gadhia noted midway through the set that upon arriving in the city on Wednesday, the only time he ventured outdoors was to purchase some jam, but all 200 people packed into The Red Room at Cafe 939 seemed to appreciate his appearance and jammed along with some of their favorite tracks by the California indie rock band.

The group opened up with a new song to be released on their upcoming album Mind Over Matter, “Anagram”, a poppy song that easily could have fit in with songs like “Strings” and “Your Side” from their 2010 self-entitled LP. The infectious rock-driven single “It’s About Time” off the new album was to follow and hypnotized the audience with the foot-stomping snare-drum pattern leading into the falsetto based chorus. Gadhia’s lulled and echoing vocals in “Guns Out” seemed to further the trance of the audience until the opening notes of the band’s first hit, “Cough Syrup”, began to be picked by guitarist Jacob Tilley and the voices of the crowd began to overpower Gadhia on the speakers.

Although many people showed for such moments where they could scream their favorite lyrics to songs off of the band’s self-titled album, all 200 fans left humming the words to the five new songs premiered throughout the night that included “Firelight”, “Crystallized”, and the aforementioned “Anagram”. Being released January 21st through Fueled By Ramen, fans quickly fell in love with the new material off the album and also got a closer listen in the lobby following the show through the promotional table set up bearing headphones playing some of the new tracks.

Just as many predicted, the closer of the night was the crowd-favorite “My Body”, and the crowd’s echoed response of the lyrics to Gadhia surely made it a memorable ending to a high energy show. Seeing such an established group in a small, intimate venue like Cafe 939 proved to be quite the treat and despite the teeth-chattering temperature, the hottest gig the venue has seen in a while.

By Quinn Slattery