Young the Giant @ Commodore Ballroom (Vancouver, BC) on October 26, 2016 [Photos & Show Review]

Young the Giant kicked off their two night stint in Vancouver on October 26 for their Skullcandy presented “Home of the Strange Tour” with vigour. I find this tour to be especially poignant considering the current political climate and general wave of change within America right now. Perhaps a self realizing note by Young the Giant who open their most recent album release, Home of the Strange, with a track called “Amerika”, which is, assumedly, a nod to unfinished Kafka novel of the same title. Using their quintessential genre confused indie pop-rock (ish) sound with upbeat tempos, Young the Giant stand apart from their peers as they weave smart, thoughtful, provocative lyricism throughout Home of the Strange.

Fans packed into the Commodore Ballroom on the rainy Vancouver evening, glistening with sweat from the constant dancing, though no one’s moves could compare to lead singer Sameer Gadhia’s gyrating, particularly on slower, funkier track “I Got” – which is reason enough to stick around, amiright? I went into the event assuming it would be a good show, I’ve seen the band live before and they always perform well but I was not ready for the level of maturity they have reached since mega track “My Body”.

The band opened the night with rock song “Jungle Youth”, rife with Bowie undertones and a great start using low lighting to compliment harder chords. They then moved into “Something to Believe In”, a perfect song to transition into taking the crowd to their next level of energy. This show was so much fun to be apart of, and that is genuinely how I feel; like I was a part of it. I don’t think I am alone in this either, if you were to look out into the crowd of singing sweaty hipsters you would see a group of truly touched, satiated people.

The band, who seems to be finding their footing genre-wise looks like they are going the route of groups like Muse and The Killers before them seemingly in relatively the same field, and will be around for awhile growing in sound, performance, and eccentricity. I can’t wait to see it all happen!