Is it just me, or has this summer been flippin’ spectac for live music?! I’m surprised I ain’t broke yet! Last night, I was fortunate to spend my last day of August at the sold out Young The Giant (YTG) show.
Opening for YTG was Gold & Youth, a Canadian indie band, with its members hailing from Vancouver and Toronto. If you were awesome enough to go to Live At Squamish, they performed there as well. Nothing kills me more than when an opener is a complete genre off from what the main act is, but luckily these folks were just my type. Their sound (arguably) was like a mellow hybrid of The Xx and Two Door Cinema Club. Here’s one of my favourite songs they played, called Daylight Colours:
Apparently, yesternight’s Commodore performance was YTG’s last theatre show of their tour for their self-titled album. If you’ve never listened to YTG before, most of their songs are like a summer road trip wrapped in beachy guitar melodies, dancy drums, and Sameer’s subtle raspy-campfire vocals (if that even makes sense). Although it’s essentially the end of summer, for a person who spent theirs mostly indoors in a classroom trying to catch up on credits, their first song, I Got, set the mood perfectly as if the summer just began.
Lead Singer, Sameer Gadhia, worked two microphones, one with reverb and the other without. It was a treat seeing his demeanor and hearing his voice change every time he switched from one to the other. As for the guitarists, their charisma and high energy were soaked up by the crowd. Their setlist was beautifully crafted to take the audience on a rollercoaster between mellow (i.e., Strings, Camera, Islands) and more lively (i.e., Cough Syrup) vibes. The first act ended with 12 Fingers, which left us wanting more, with throats sore and hands red from clapping. (Dear Bands, why do you do this to us?!)
To start off their encore, because it was a Friday (and apparently, just for the ears and eyes of Vancouver), YTG had something special in store for us: their take on R. Kelly’s 2003 hit, Ignition (Remix)! I had no idea about what the crowd felt, but my friends and I were harsh digging it. Spontaneous and unexpected covers like that take my respect, admiration, and happiness to a whole ‘nother level. They ended it off with their rowdy, name-that-commercial hit, My Body, in which the audience took the opportunity to mosh during:
Honestly, I have yet to experience a bad concert at the Commodore!
Favourite Moments: Cover of R. Kelly’s Ignition (Remix), Strings, My Body, YTG’s energy!
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