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Young the Giant took the stage for their Halloween show and second night in at Georgia Theatre on Saturday night. Earlier in the week, the band announced a contest for fans to submit costumes in order to go on stage for the last song. Due to this, the band was no exception to the Athens’s Halloween hype; they ran on stage dressed in “Tune Squad” uniforms, only after each band member was introduced with a Space Jam persona. The exhilaration felt throughout Georgia Theatre from that moment stayed with the fans until the final song.


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Following their grand entrances, Young the Giant opened the show with “Day Dreamer,” a track off their second album “Mind Over Matter.” It seemed as if everyone in Georgia Theatre had come alive to the music, with fans’ voices almost covering lead singer Sameer Gadhia’s vocals. It was obvious that all of the fans packed in the sold out venue had been waiting for the show ever since it was rescheduled from its original date last winter. Young the Giant continued on through their set playing an equal amount of songs from their two albums, bringing out old fan favorites like “I Got” and “Guns Out.” After a speech about the bands roots, they played “Cough Syrup,” the song that took them to the big leagues in music. Looking around the theatre, anyone could see the electric energy of all of the fans and how they all felt a connection to the lyrics that Young the Giant preached. Later, Young the Giant covered R. Kelly’s “Ignition.” Before the show, fans had been speculating whether they would cover it, as it has come to be one of their most popular covers amongst fans. Several songs later, Young the Giant played one of their most recent singles, “Mind Over Matter” with the vocal accompaniment of every person in the venue. The band left the stage and for a solid five minutes, Georgia Theatre chanting and cheers rung throughout at full volume. Clad in more strange costume accessories, Young the Giant played four more songs. Of the four, one of them was R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly,” which they followed with a story of playing alongside R. Kelly at a festival in the UK as a young band. They closed out the show with three songs of their first album, finishing with one of their most popular songs, “My Body.”

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While Young the Giant was on stage for one and a half hours, there was not a dull moment. From fake interviewing a member of the opener dressed as Ziggy Stardust to all of the members’ strange dance moves, Young the Giant constantly kept the crowd thrilled and reciprocated the fans’ excitement. If anything, I’m more excited than ever for their third album and I can’t wait to see Young the Giant again.

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-Tori Benes