Who: Young the Giant
When: April 20, 2012
Where: Stage AE/ Pittsburgh, PA
With: Hillary
Of Note: an 80 degree night in Pittsburgh in April, a venue sponsored by a clothing chain, awesome music
The first time I heard 'My Body' on the radio, I stopped the running conversation I have with myself while I'm driving and listened intently. It was amazing. I bought Young the Giant's self-titled debut and put it on steady rotation. I was bummed when I was in Europe when they were in Toronto. I got the email that they added a few dates, one of them Pittsburgh. I decided that a 7 hour round-trip drive was perfectly reasonable to see a great band. Luckily, Hillary was willing to play along with my ridiculousness.
We rolled into Pittsburgh and was shocked to find that it was 80 degrees. I know we were going south, but I didn't realize it was going to be so unseasonably, tropically warm. We were also surprised to see that 'Stage AE' was actually a venue sponsored by American Eagle Outfitters, and apparently one of only a few venues in the country that have both indoor and outdoor stages. It was a great venue, right on the river
Hillary and I walked in right at 8 when the opening band, the Apache Relay was performing. They were good - I like that they used a lot of non-traditional rock music instruments - a violin, a mandolin, some other kind of ...in, probably. Their guitarist had a really epic beard. If I may, a marketing note for Apache Relay - you didn't say your band name nearly often enough and when you did, it was rushed and hard to understand. It took some serious googling to be able to find the band name so I could buy your album, which I'm glad I did, because it's really good!
And then, Young the Giant. I was so excited to see them, and they did not disappoint. The set opened with 'My Apartment' and the crowd was immediately engaged and drawn in. They hit the highlights of their album - 'I Got', '12 Fingers', 'Strings'. The entire room predictably erupted and sang along with 'Cough Syrup' - a pretty cool experience. (I love full venue sing alongs.) The lead singer, Sameer, was hotter than I expected him to be, for what that's worth.
He also seamlessly switched between a regular microphone and an effects microphone, that, despite my extensive googling, I cannot figure out what it is. He also used some pretty weird effects, sometimes looping his voice, and one time running it through a filter that made it sound like a chorus of children was singing. I was concerned that nobody else seemed to be disturbed by the chorus of children...because that freaked me out.
I really cannot say enough good things about the music; the band was clearly having a blast. The crowd was enthusiastic and engaged, for the most part, with the exception of some children who thought concert time was make out time. Umm, kids? You can make out afterwards. Pay attention to the awesome band.
Some weeks ago, Neil and I were having a Gchat conversation about musical covers, why they are so fascinating, what the appeal is. He sent me this link of Young the Giant for AV Club. I thought it was awesome and hilarious. While we drove down, I told Hillary about it. When the band came back out for the encore, I had a feeling. Sameer indicated that because it was 4/20, he was going to but, "Usuall-," and the rest of the first line was cut off by my very loud, "Whooooooo!!!!" Apparently, the children are not familiar with AV Club, because I was the only one who saw it coming, which gave me a brief moment to feel smug and superior. They played R Kelly's 'Remix to Ignition' in its entirety and it was glorious. The whole crowd rocked out, club style, for the song and it was awesome (and hilarious).
The show ended with 'My Body' and it was even better in person than in my car. I really hope that Young the Giant have a long, awesome career - seeing them live was definitely a treat.
When: April 20, 2012
Where: Stage AE/ Pittsburgh, PA
With: Hillary
Of Note: an 80 degree night in Pittsburgh in April, a venue sponsored by a clothing chain, awesome music
The first time I heard 'My Body' on the radio, I stopped the running conversation I have with myself while I'm driving and listened intently. It was amazing. I bought Young the Giant's self-titled debut and put it on steady rotation. I was bummed when I was in Europe when they were in Toronto. I got the email that they added a few dates, one of them Pittsburgh. I decided that a 7 hour round-trip drive was perfectly reasonable to see a great band. Luckily, Hillary was willing to play along with my ridiculousness.
We rolled into Pittsburgh and was shocked to find that it was 80 degrees. I know we were going south, but I didn't realize it was going to be so unseasonably, tropically warm. We were also surprised to see that 'Stage AE' was actually a venue sponsored by American Eagle Outfitters, and apparently one of only a few venues in the country that have both indoor and outdoor stages. It was a great venue, right on the river
Hillary and I walked in right at 8 when the opening band, the Apache Relay was performing. They were good - I like that they used a lot of non-traditional rock music instruments - a violin, a mandolin, some other kind of ...in, probably. Their guitarist had a really epic beard. If I may, a marketing note for Apache Relay - you didn't say your band name nearly often enough and when you did, it was rushed and hard to understand. It took some serious googling to be able to find the band name so I could buy your album, which I'm glad I did, because it's really good!
And then, Young the Giant. I was so excited to see them, and they did not disappoint. The set opened with 'My Apartment' and the crowd was immediately engaged and drawn in. They hit the highlights of their album - 'I Got', '12 Fingers', 'Strings'. The entire room predictably erupted and sang along with 'Cough Syrup' - a pretty cool experience. (I love full venue sing alongs.) The lead singer, Sameer, was hotter than I expected him to be, for what that's worth.
He also seamlessly switched between a regular microphone and an effects microphone, that, despite my extensive googling, I cannot figure out what it is. He also used some pretty weird effects, sometimes looping his voice, and one time running it through a filter that made it sound like a chorus of children was singing. I was concerned that nobody else seemed to be disturbed by the chorus of children...because that freaked me out.
I really cannot say enough good things about the music; the band was clearly having a blast. The crowd was enthusiastic and engaged, for the most part, with the exception of some children who thought concert time was make out time. Umm, kids? You can make out afterwards. Pay attention to the awesome band.
Some weeks ago, Neil and I were having a Gchat conversation about musical covers, why they are so fascinating, what the appeal is. He sent me this link of Young the Giant for AV Club. I thought it was awesome and hilarious. While we drove down, I told Hillary about it. When the band came back out for the encore, I had a feeling. Sameer indicated that because it was 4/20, he was going to but, "Usuall-," and the rest of the first line was cut off by my very loud, "Whooooooo!!!!" Apparently, the children are not familiar with AV Club, because I was the only one who saw it coming, which gave me a brief moment to feel smug and superior. They played R Kelly's 'Remix to Ignition' in its entirety and it was glorious. The whole crowd rocked out, club style, for the song and it was awesome (and hilarious).
The show ended with 'My Body' and it was even better in person than in my car. I really hope that Young the Giant have a long, awesome career - seeing them live was definitely a treat.
Whee a shoutout. Some nerds might like the link to the A.V. Club performance.
ReplyDeleteHuh, I put that in as a link but Blogger ate it. Updated. And yes, shout outs for you!
ReplyDelete