Live Review: Young The Giant - Electric Brixton, London 05/10/2023
4 years later and indie artists Young The Giant finally deliver the promised return to London, and have Electric Brixton singing and swaying.
Young the Giant have been around for a while since fans fell in love with ‘Cough Syrup’ and ‘My Body’ around 2010. I was surprised by the support act Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, but it was by all means not unpleasant - we grew up with this music. Singer Sam is there to warm us up and he is keen for Brixton to get energetic and participate. We’re tired on this hectic train-strike filled Thursday but we do it anyway because this is what gigs are, a shared experience of a love for a sound. You cannot refuse the request of a cheerful musician in a Hawaiian shirt who is there to give you a good time.
As a fan with the band since the beginning, my setlist prayers were answered – ‘Nothing’s Over' was on literal repeat in my car for about 4 days back in 2016, and ‘Walk Me Home’ was my standout track from the band’s latest release American Bollywood. It’s their fifth album, centred around migration and diversity in singer Sameer Gadhia’s life in LA but this is so applicable to Brixton, and one of London’s best attributes: diversity and communities. I found I wasn’t alone at feeling this way before this gig. Get Cape Wear Cape Fly had us booing the British Empire and gave a heartfelt discussion about how important it was for him to see South Asian Musicians in the industry. We should all be represented by “people that look like [us]”.
Young The Giant have a perfect fluidity to albums that make them perfect for coach and plane journeys, and from a technical standpoint, as a vinyl record. The curation of the setlist is fluid tonight too. Sameer Gadhia’s voice is beautiful, no doubt or opinion about it (“godlike”, a woman in the VIP area said to her friend) and we kicked off the show with his singing immediately. Opening songs “American Bollywood”, “Cough Syrup” and “Walk Home” had us hit in the face with how great it is to hear him sing again. Somehow it’s better on stage than on the albums, and it has been too long since we’ve been able to sing along with Young The Giant with lyrics that are meant to be sung along to. Sameer doesn’t speak much, he doesn’t have to – just “Hey!” “Sing with me” and “I wanna see you jump, London” is enough and after song 3 they have to take a pause as the crowd is cheering so loud. His intro finally comes and explains it’s been 4 years. This is important, for those of us who were there in Camden in 2019, we remember how loudly the crowd cheered when Young The Giant said they’d be back. “Sorry we couldn’t be back” Sameer explains of the 4 year gap across the pandemic, “stuff happened”. A communal chuckle.
We get the opportunity to move a lot in this gig, partly thanks to Get Cape Wear Cape Fly getting us energetic. ‘I Got’ had the whole crowd swaying their arms side to side, and we all got moving to ‘ Dancing In The Rain’. When the Hollywood writers’ strike is over, ‘Dancing In The Rain’ needs to be the opener to a TV show based in California. Sameer himself dances constantly, his shirt is untucked for this one. He’s singing upwards, to the crowd, to himself, to whoever he sings to to get that energy out. Big frontman energy. His dancing returns during my favourite ‘Tightrope’ and gets the last of the non-movers foot tapping.
Sometimes we’re treated to a variation in sound, with a heavy electric opening for ‘Nothing’s Over’ and a funky instrumental moment in the middle. The vibe is spot on but it’s a treat that it’s not identical to the recorded version. This is the one to convert new fans. In ‘Dollar Store’ we have some heavier guitar, with a sound as if maybe they were listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers when they wrote this one. The guitar wails and the 70s funk in ‘Tightrope’ comes through stronger live than in the recorded version. I know this song will reappear in my Spotify wrapped again this year.
At the end of the show I found myself ending the way I started, thinking about Sameer Gadhia’s singing and how relatable Young The Giant lyrics are. I resonate best with “Feel like it’s been forever, since I’ve had my shit together” from ‘Heat of the Summer’ and “I’ll grow up when I’m older” in ‘Nothing’s Over’. We have a 4 song encore in London, and Sameer delivers it with a speech. Between the 5 band members, there have been 4 children, and now as we return to normal life after the dreaded C word we need to remember how strong our community and love for each other are. In ‘Firelight’
We use our phone lights together midway through the song. It’s a perfect track for this, the echoing of the guitar sounding soft and beautiful before the harmonies of the band join in over the top. This is a song that can only be sung with your eyebrows knitted together in emotion. When the crowd all put their flashlights up, I can see the screens from my vantage point. The phones are a mix of recording the band and people’s phone backgrounds of family, friends and pets, and it’s heart-warming to see that- there’s only love in this room. I cannot wait for the 3rd London return of Young The Giant.
Words by Jemma Sharpe
Photography by Abigail Shii
