Grown-up middle school angsters, tenured millennials and adult hipsters alike met at the Sylvee this past Saturday to jam out with Young the Giant, who kicked off their Mirror Master tour at the end of January.
The openers, Sure Sure, were fresh and funky, the highlight being their notorious cover of Talking Heads’ “This Must Be the Place.” The self-proclaimed experimental pop band closed out their easy-listening set and the once-patiently waiting crowd got antsy.
This was alleviated, however, when the lights dropped and YTG jumped directly into the ambient “Oblivion.” Sameer Gadhia’s vocals drilled into the crowd, booming in the audience’s chests as they planted themselves on stage.
The drawn-out, vocal-heavy hit from the October-dropped “Mirror Master” was followed by the hearty and unreserved “Something to Believe In” that gave everyone in the crowd a reason to dance, and the poppy, light, unadulterated “Heat of the Summer.”
YTG then slowed down their set a bit with the punky and nostalgic “Apartment” and the sweet and light “Titus Was Born.”
“Brother’s Keeper” and a cover of Radiohead’s “No Surprises” offered a bit of heart rate fluctuation relief, and Gadhia’s falsetto-heavy rendition of “Firelight” was distressingly beautiful, complete with shaky lights supplied by the crowd.
The booming and candid “Amerika” then filled the venue in a hypnotic way, adequately setting up the vibe for their classic “Cough Syrup.” It had everyone feeling like they were a far-too-young-to-relate-to-running-away-from-a-missed-fortune-preteen again and could only be described as pure, wholesome bliss.
Their set was continued by the throbbing “Mind Over Matter,” which was complete with sympathetic stomps and head-banging across the board. The funky dance break induced “Nothing’s Over” and beats that had the audience shockingly begging for MORE cowbell.
“Call Me Back” then pulsated the venue, forcing the crowd to ride the almost orgasmic wave of the song for their false ending.
As anti-climactic as this false ending was, since it was extremely clear that they had no intentions of stopping due to their sustained energy and the lack of iconic tracks, it still rocked my frickin’ socks off.
The spunky “Superposition” and sharp “Tightrope” had everyone’s feet in a trance, only to be followed by the electrifying “Silvertongue. Unsurprisingly, YTG ended their set with the flashy and stimulating “My Body.”
Overall, the concert was evocative, triggering memories of my youth filled with their EP and forced me to fully recognize their musical transformation from the raw “Young the Giant” to soulful “Mind Over Matter” to funky “Home of the Strange” and now to the unapologetic “Mirror Master.”
Their set was a perfect compilation of works from all four albums, cohesively flowing between new and nostalgic.
As a longtime fan of YTG, this concert was a perfect representation of my own personal transition from youth to early adulthood, capturing the shift from the discomfort to the security that can be found in vulnerability. And with a largely student audience, I am sure this was not particularly novel.
