Young The Giant with Ra Ra Riot at the Sound Academy

Photos by Katrina Lat

Home of the Strange Tour hits Toronto and well, a lot went down. California natives, Young the Giant, put on a show that if you missed it, you should be kicking yourself right now. With supporting acts, Ra Ra Riot and newly renovated Sound Academy, the night was filled with smiles and animated movement.

American Indies, Ra Ra Riot began the night on a fun note. The band consisting of a guitarist, bassist and two string players— who actually really caught my eye— they opened their set with “Too Too Too Fast” off their debut album, The Rhumb line (2008), a song that makes you feel like you’ve been time warped into the 80s and your body suddenly knows how to dance. This was the theme the band carried throughout the night, upbeat and fun music that kept everyone on their feet. They closed the night with the 4^th track off their newest record, Need Your Light (2016), “I Need Your Light.”

Young the Giant made their way to stage after a short intermission and open the show with their latest single, “Jungle”. Lead singer, Sameer Gadhia, sported a red jumpsuit along with a Telecaster as he played rhythm guitar for majority of the song. Not only were the outfits of the members an eye catching quality but as well as the stage; fictitious flags hung around the stage as they matched the flags on the album cover of their latest album, Home of the Strange (2016). Interestingly enough, the band didn’t explain the meaning behind the flags or if they were real or not. Playing a variety of their songs from each album, fans were pretty excited to hear cult favorites like, Apartment, Cough Syrup and My Body, off their successfully self-titled debut. A highlight of the night was watching the quirky lead singer introduce a friend of the band, Daniel Levitin, a professor at University of McGill as well as a well renowned music producer and guitarist, to play “Mind over Matter” off their sophomore record with the same name. It was special moment for just the Torontonians fans to experience. The quintet encored with three songs, including a fan favorite at the moment, “Silver Tongue.”