Concert Reviews

Young The Giant at Kool Haus – March 7, 2014

When Young The Giant hit the stage at the presumably sold out Kool Haus the crowd went nuts. I don’t think I have ever heard a band get such a reaction in a small to medium sized venue before. Lead vocalist Sameer Gadhia came out to a two-microphone setup. One regular one that he would take out of the stand and dance around the stage while singing and another retro styled one that he used to distort his vocals, with the assistance of effects box attached to the stand where he was able to play with different pitches and sounds.

The band opened their set with the break neck song It’s About Time, the lead single from their latest album Mind Over Matter. The band played it with a funky urgency that demanded everyone start dancing right away. The band slowed it down only slightly when they busted out I Got, from their first album which elicited one of the biggest cheers of the night. Gadhia spent the whole night dancing away. Every move was sensual but at the same time it was a sexual thing, just being controlled by the music.

The band has a U2 large broad rock sound but mashed up with the neo-soul of a band like Fitz and the Tantrums. Guitarists Jacob Tilley and Eric Cannata kept a tight funky groove throwing in some ska influence on some songs and made every song seem super epic. The band seemed to really enjoy the venue and crowd and Gadhia seemed shocked after every song for the reaction they got. The sound at the Kool Haus has to be one of the best in the city. The decibel level was at a reasonable level that it didn’t give me a headache and the high and low frequencies were tuned just right.

They slowed down their set to a sexy crawl with the Ryhe like baby making jam Camera, with lots of plinking guitars and noisy synths. During every sustained note that Gadhia sung the crowd would cheer loudly which seemed to only encourage him more to throw all of his energy into his performance, like it was his last.

They finished their set with Cough Syrup, which created a clapping beat from the audience. Gadhia shimmied his way through the song and the band played it slightly more up-tempo than it normally is which elicited groovy dancing from everyone while they were singing along word for word. To go along with the great sound at the venue the light show was fantastic as the band was adequately lit from the front and the back making them very visible even in the back.

When the guys came back for the encore they played three extra songs, including the ones everyone wanted to hear My Apartment and My Body which finished the night and caused the crowd to go insane cheering, clapping and dancing throughout it. Drummer Francois Comtois sung a French cover of a song called Formidable. It was a half spoken word style vocals with a Parisian style beat.

If it weren’t for the ‘bros’ on the right of me futilely trying to pick up some girls during every quiet moment or the lady on the left of me coughing up so much phlegm I thought a lung was coming up, it would have been a near perfect show for me. I have gone from a moderate fan to one blown away by their showmanship and great catalogue of tunes.

About author

Music Editor at Live in Limbo and Host of Contra Zoom podcast. Dakota is a graduate of Humber College's Acting for Film and Television. He now specializes in knowing all random trivia. He writes about music, sports and film. Dakota's life goal is visit all baseball stadiums, he's at 7.