Photos: Young The Giant @ Sound Academy

Four years, two houses, and three jobs have passed since I entered the Sound Academy to take in a Young The Giant performance. And that's just me. For the boys of YTG - their careers have definitely evolved. They've released two albums since I caught their show in support of their self-titled 2010 release. Mind over Matter came out in 2014 and now they are on their Home of the Strange tour for their latest release (August 12, 2016).

But as I list this growing and evolving discography, it feels like everything has changed, and yet at the same time - like nothing has changed.

This is mainly due to the familiarity of seeing YTG perform live after all these years. Frontman Sameer Gadhia's stage presence was just as hypnotizing as I had remembered. He also still has an unsurpassed power over his audience. You know when people say, "well if Johnny jumped off a bridge, are you going to jump off a bridge too?" And you know how you're supposed to say "no, mom." Well, I'm pretty sure the answer would be a unanimous hell yeah if it was Gadhia jumping off that bridge. He's just got the power to make it happen because with little effort he has everyone waving and clapping along in perfect rhythm. It is truly something to behold.

Throughout their set, the five-man band played crowd favourites across all three of their albums, including Cough Syrup, It’s About Time, and Something to Believe In. Unsurprisingly the closer of the evening was My Body. It IS the song they closed with last time I saw them but it is inarguably their biggest song, so I'm willing to overlook the repeat.

Who knows where we'll all be when we meet again on the shores of Lake Ontario on a perfect September night.

Check out all the photos from the their set below:

Young The Giant's Setlist:

1. Jungle Youth
2. I Got
3. Something to Believe In
4. Eros
5. Titus Was Born
6. Apartment
7. Cough Syrup
8. Firelight
9. Repeat
10. Mr. Know‐It‐All
11. It's About Time
12. Nothing’s Over
13. Art Exhibit
14. Mind Over Matter
15. Home of the Strange

Encore:
Amerika
Silvertongue
My Body

Photography by: Steve St. Jean
Words by: Karlie Hopf