Young the Giant restored a piece of their souls on Saturday with a packed tour stop at Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix. Four years removed from their last proper tour had fans craving the energy that only the California five-piece can provide and their set is bigger and better than ever.
Milky Chance opened the evening with a wall of LED lights and the right tone to get the crowd moving and grooving. It’s not often that North America sees these German imports play live and that made their set especially memorable for longtime fans. They had the room swaying and stomping to older tracks like “Living in a Haze” and “Flashed Junk Mind” while also debuting songs from their latest album. The band made sure to place “Stolen Dance” in the middle of the list to give the new songs their proper spotlight and the audience went properly wild for “Colorado” before they closed out with “Sweet Sun” under a shimmer of lights and haze.
The theatre stage got an upgrade with Young the Giant’s setup- including carpeted platforms, props and a canopy of flowers hung artfully over the band. The main event began with Act I, an overture that set the tone for a night of emotions and plenty of dancing. Singer Sameer Gadhia flitted between dual microphones on “Something to Believe”, waving his tambourine wildly as the crowd amped themselves up.
The rest of the band was also decked out in matching suits as the perfect canvas for the brilliant lights that showered both the group and their fans. Emotions ran high for “Cough Syrup” as we then took “The Walk Home” into Act II. The set was perfectly spliced into these mini sections that also had visualizers in between- a feast for the senses all evening long.
2022’s American Bollywood got its own focus act in the middle of the set for Young the Giant to celebrate their new music properly for the first time since its release. Fans from every era of the band’s history showed their appreciation for the stunning consistency of their discography and live performances throughout the years, lavishing cheers and praises when Gadhia took a moment towards the end of the night to express how this tour has recharged them as a collective.
The party picked back up again for “Tightrope” before the Interlude act of “Titus Was Born”, a precursor to an incredible encore. A disco ball had hung in suspense all evening, waiting for the moment to descend and turn the venue into a glittering indie club rocking out to “Silvertongue” and “My Body” for the perfect Finale act.
Young the Giant remains one of our favorite live bands to experience and those years away from the road have only made their live show all the more spectacular and special. As the disco ball retracted, the lights came up and the band faded from sight, fans left the venue clinging to hope that they won’t stay away so long before the next time we get to dance together.
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Story and photos by Olivia Khiel
