The band brought new album ‘Victory Garden’ to the iconic Camden venue.
Photo: Ioná Corrêa
The streets of Camden are rainy and freezing this evening, but the inside of KOKO is nice and warm as fans huddle together in anticipation of Young The Giant’s second London show this year. After several classic train delays, I managed to make it just in time to catch opening act Ben Kidson’s cover of Torn by Natalie Imbruglia; not what I expected to hear this evening, but I’m not mad about it.
Kidson is the perfect opening act. The South London artist’s music lives in a space somewhere between rapping and singing, though his Instagram bio reads “not a rapper”, and he effortlessly captivates the KOKO audience with blunt lyricism, groovy bass lines and playful personality. After asking the single people in the audience to raise their hands, he instructs them to look around, smiles and says “you’re welcome” before launching into his final song of the evening, leaving a thoroughly entertained crowd more than ready for the evening’s headliners.
There’s an ease to Young The Giant’s stage presence that one can only find in bands who have been doing this as long as they have. From the first few notes of Evergreen, it’s easy to tell that they are right at home on the KOKO stage. Frontman Sameer Gadhia’s energy is graceful and intense all at once, utterly contagious as the prickly guitar riffs and chanty vocals from the intro of Something To Believe In draw cheers from the crowd.
Their setlist spans all twelve years of their career, with songs like Apartment from their self-titled debut album, all the way to Bitter Fruit and Mona Lisa from Victory Garden, their latest LP and the tour’s namesake.
Long-time fans and casual listeners alike, however, come alive together when the band launches into Cough Syrup. It doesn’t take much effort for Gadhia to compel the crowd to jump alongside him during the song’s instrumental break and, just like that, we are nearing the end of the concert.
The final song of the evening is the fan-favourite Mind Over Matter, and as the band bows and thanks their loving crowd, the fans clap and cheer until long after Young The Giant has left the stage. There is no encore, but the chants of “one more song” are relentless, only ending once the house lights at KOKO come back to life. Unfortunately for the fans, it appears they’ll have to wait at least a few more months until their requests can be fulfilled but, judging by tonight, the wait is definitely worth it.
All photos by Ioná Corrêa.