Young the Giant Bring a Night of Love and Light to New York City [Photos]

Young the Giant brought their “Victory Garden World Tour” to New York City’s Rooftop at Pier 17 for two nights of music on June 18th and 19th, 2026. In celebration of their recently released album of the same name, the tour features special guests Cold War Kids and almost monday to round out the bill for an evening jam-packed with excellent music.

Between the beautiful weather following a rainstorm and riding the high of the New York Knicks’ historic championship win just days prior, the city was alight and abuzz for the concert on Friday night. Californian indie pop band almost monday kicked off the night with an upbeat nine-song set. The band made sure to share the news of their impending sophomore record, Thank God It’s Almost Monday, as well as a return to the city with a headliner of their own in the fall. From “jupiter,” to “life goes by,” their irresistibly catchy sound perfectly set the tone of the night on a sun-drenched rooftop in the midst of a city bursting with even more pride in itself than usual.

Cold War Kids took the stage next for about an hour of music spanning their over-two-decade career. Though technically billed as an opening slot, as longtime veterans of the music industry, the band easily commanded the audience as if the occasion were their own headliner. The five-piece band, headed by frontman Nathan Willett, treated attendees to a thoughtful assortment of their music. From upbeat hits like “So Tied Up,” “Love Is Mystical,” and “First,” to deeper cuts like “Hospital Beds” and “We Used to Vacation,” the crowd remained enraptured and fully engaged, singing along for the highs and watching in quiet reverence in the lulls.

Finally, Young the Giant took the stage just as the sunset was tinging the clouds pink behind the stage and casting a golden haze over the rooftop. They opened the set with their album’s opening track, “Evergreen,” the perfect high-energy start to a 19-song behemoth of a setlist. Even with nearly two hours of music to get through, lead singer Sameer Gadhia made sure to take time between songs to connect with his audience. Between checking in with attendees in the sweltering heat and discussing some of the more heartfelt inspirations behind their music, Gadhia managed to make a crowd of over 3,000 people feel intimately connected to each other and to himself.

In an especially poignant part of the evening, Gadhia discussed the title of Victory Garden’s lead single, “Different Kind of Love.” Young the Giant is a band from many different walks of life: Gadhia’s family immigrated from India shortly after he was born; bassist Payam Doostzadeh is a first-generation Persian-American; drummer Francois Comtois hails from Quebec; guitarists Eric Cannata and Jacob Tilley originate from New Jersey and England, respectively.

While the news would have us believe the world is more divided than ever, Gadhia says that he increasingly feels the desperate need for human connection and sees it more and more every day. He and others yearn for the different kind of love described in the song, a thing he only knows how to describe and reach through song. The message was particularly impactful in the midst of Pride Month and saw many attendees embracing each other as the band performed the track.

Other new songs performed included “Bitter Fruit,” “Already There,” “Ships Passing,” and “God As Witness.” Interspersed throughout the set were staples like “Cough Syrup,” “Silvertongue,” “My Body,” and, of course, “Mind Over Matter,” as well as lesser-played fan favourites such as “Apartment,” “Teachers,” and “Garands.” The band aptly left the stage to an instrumental outro of “Life is a Long Goodbye,” and fans slowly started to filter out of the venue.

Magic lingered in the air long after the show ended, though, with fans exchanging contact information with new friends they had met during the concert, and revelling in the joy they’d be carrying into the weekend. The band’s message of radical love and acceptance is something fans will carry with them long after the moment has ended. It will hopefully continue to embody the different kinds of love we all need for many years to come, or at least until the next time Young the Giant passes through NYC.