Young the Giant recently played a show at The Zoo Amphitheater in Oklahoma City. They had support from Milky Chance and Talk. The OKC crowd caught an extremely lucky break from what was supposed to be a 100 degree day when clouds started to roll in and brought the temps down a little bit, while any storms associated with the cloud cover fell apart before hitting the city.
The opening act, Talk, delivered such a fun performance. Shortly after taking the stage a fan yelled from the crowd that they had a present for him. After he retrieved the present, he opened it and showed the crowd a brand-new pair of custom overalls that he was very impressed with. You could tell this particular fan is very talented with a sewing machine, and obviously loves Talk. Who can blame them. His talent is out of this world.
Talk was very entertaining, from kicking his Croc’s out into the crowd and catching them when they were thrown back, to licking his guitar players face mid-song. He really got me all in my feelings when he played the song “A Little Bit Happy”. He prefaced the song by saying he wrote it for his grandma and noted that if you still have your grandparents in your life to cherish them because they are not here forever. This hit me particularly hard because I had just lost my grandma the day before this show. Needless to say, I got a little teary while leaving the photo pit. I could obviously completely relate to the message behind this song, and it was such a beautiful song.
The German band Milky Chance was next up for the evening. I will admit that I am not familiar with this band, so I like to watch the crowd interaction a little more when a band is new to me. WOW!!! That is the first thing that comes to mind with this band and the crowd interactions. The fans came out in full force to see them, as they were jumping around, dancing, and singing every word to every song right along with lead singer, Clemens Rehbein.
The crowd couldn’t help but dance when Clemens said it was time to do so. Their songs rhythm and beats are so infectious, you can’t help but move your body. When the band covered Soft Cells “Tainted Love”, it took me a second to realize they were doing a cover song as I was getting so into their original music. It was a palate cleanser of sorts before leading into the rest of their set of original music.
After a short break to get the stage set up, the time of the evening had finally arrived. Young the Giant took the stage, which was elaborately set up with streamers draping up to a huge mirrored disco ball high above the stage. The rear of the stage was adorned with windowpanes decorated with intricate, and bold designs that brought you straight into the world of the Young the Giant.
The band started their portion of the evening with “American Bollywood” and continued with another 11 songs ending with “Mind Over Matter”. The band quickly gave the fans an astonishing 5-song encore with the song “My Body” officially rounding out the night. Young the Giant gave the fans over an hour and a half of songs picked from six of their albums. Of course, when the band played fan favorites like “Cough Syrup” and “Dollar $tore” the energy levels got kicked up a notch or two. The crowd got exactly what they paid for, and much more with this extraordinary evening of music.
Head over to any of the band’s websites at www.youngthegiant.com, www.milkychance.net, and www.iamtalkmusic.com to keep up with the latest announcements and links to the social media sites for each band. You can also go ahead and purchase some merch while you’re there. If you have the chance, get out and see this tour. From start to finish, the talent is immeasurable, and the excitement is real!!
